iafrica.com's Khaya Ndubane says Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana is not the only one to blame for South Africa's unconvincing display in recent matches...

Let?s roll back a few months, on the eve of the Confederations Cup, when Bafana players wanted millions of rands in bonuses and the ever-compromising South African Football Association (Safa) agreed to cough up. The result? Bafana came close to beating both Brazil and Spain and everyone started thinking South Africa has a team to could well in next year's World Cup.

Fast forward to today, and we see that Bafana have lost six (yes, six) consecutive matches since the Confederations Cup. Guess what? The difference is that Bafana players are now paid a mere R50 000 for a win? perhaps a reason for the drop in performances?

South Africa has number one teams in both rugby and cricket. To players wearing Springbok or Proteas jerseys, representing their country well is more important than money. But for Bafana players, money seems to come before the country's pride.

South Africans must brace themselves for another humiliation in 2010 when South Africa could well become the only host country in over 20 years to fail to advance from the opening round of the World Cup.

I say this because it is well known that come June 2010, Safa will once again find themselves being forced into a corner by the greedy Bafana players who will be demanding millions to represent their country in the showpiece.

After all, they have done this on numerous occasions and I don't see them changing, especially with news that the World Cup will bring millions into South Africa. The Bafana players ? as usual ? will be looking for a piece of the World Cup pie.

With Santana coming out and saying that he has already pencilled in 80 per cent of his squad for the World Cup, the future certainly does not look bright for South Africa.

  • Do you agree with Khaya? Or do you think Bafana Bafana will do well in the 2010 World Cup? Let us know what YOU think!