Chronicle Editor
Grace Chingoma, Harare Bureau
SOUTH African football legend Mark Fish has challenged the Cosafa nations to raise their game and aim to qualify for the Fifa World Cup finals with consistency.
The former Charlton Athletic defender believes that it is high time that the Cosafa region challenge the west and north African blocs that continue to dominate the continental space.
Fish was in the country as part of the Caf inspection team that assessed the National Sports Stadium and Barbourfields’ suitability to host the 2022 World Cup qualifiers that will commence in early October.
Zimbabwe are in Group G which has Ghana as the top seeds, South Africa as well as Ethiopia.
But while acknowledging that the encounter between the two Southern African countries will be a blockbuster, Fish says he would be thrilled if one of the teams qualify to the 2022 finals in Qatar.
Zimbabwe and South Africa are set to clash in the global qualifiers 23 years after they met on the fateful day at the National Sports Stadium where 13 fans died in a stampede.
Fish said when they arrived in Harare he was reminded by Derek Blackensee of the match South Africa lost 1-4 to Zimbabwe after they have been re-admitted by Fifa in 1992.
“Derek was reminding me of when we got readmitted into world football in 1992. Zimbabwe beat Bafana Bafana 4-1 and we were called 4×4.
“Luckily, I wasn’t part of that generation, I came little bit afterwards but again you know for me it is not about South Africa or Zimbabwe but Cosafa.
“For me, whether we are in the same group, I just want to see sub-Saharan, the Cosafa region improving and playing more often at the World Cup.
“It doesn’t help that we don’t have a team at the World Cup finals, we certainly didn’t have any of the teams at the 2018 finals and 2014, so what are we doing wrong, the rest of the region.
“For me it’s not about South Africa winning or Zimbabwe, for me it is about the region.
“Let’s improve the region so that the teams can be more competitive so that they can qualify for the World Cup finals. If Zimbabwe qualify at the expense of South Africa, it doesn’t bother me.
“It’s encouraging to see a team from this area so it is going to be challenging, I think obviously that is going to the biggest game, when we play each other.
“But there is a bigger picture and football should always be the winner for me it is not about Bafana or Zimbabwe or any country it is about the region.
“It has always been about the region. What are we doing wrong that the rest are doing right?” Fish questioned.
Fish, who has been going around the country as part of Caf’s initiative to have former players take an active role in the football matters, says improving infrastructure in the region will assist in improving our football.
“l just want to see sub-Saharan, the Cosafa region improving. I know there is always a few disadvantages in comparison with other regions, with other governments always working with football federations.
“In Morocco, with the blessing of the King, they built a facility with the value of US$250 million for the football federation.
“For sport if you work hand-in-hand together to uplift sport it would be co-ordinated among everyone.
“Working with Derek, he is experienced and has been everything in football, personally we always know that there is talent, we know that if the ball is on the ground we can play but our infrastructure doesn’t support the way we can play the game.
“If you look at the football on the continent, it is fantastic football but the stadia and the development doesn’t correlate with the talent that we have. So, somewhere there is a miss.
“I think this is a massive opportunity that if we can create so much more, the rest of the world wants to look at the African football and come to Africa because we give a good picture of ourselves to the rest of the world and not always vice versa that our players always want to go and play outside Africa.
“But there is always a lot of work to do but it’s not impossible and is exciting and makes this game a beautiful game,” said Fish.
Online Reporter