Dancing South Africans triumph

THE singing South Africans may have struck a bum note with their conquered Irish victims in the 11-a-side football tournament at the AUL complex in Clonshaugh, Dublin yesterday.

However, their joyous approach to the game certainly lifted the hearts of the hundreds of disappointed fans.

The Ireland 1 team bowed out of the competition in Division 1A with a 6-0 defeat at the talented hands, and feet, of a side which went into the game needing four clear goals to progress to the semi-finals.

But though the scoreline suggests a hammering, Irish heads were justifiably held high as they left the pitch having never given up on their cause.

It was the South Africans who caught the eye and the ear, though, dancing and singing their way onto the practice area, through their warm-up and then onto the field of play before piecing together a slick, dare one say, virtuoso performance.

Star of the show was midfielder Bheki Daniel Mahlangu, who scored a hat-trick and was instrumental in another which was adjudged to have been an own goal.

Regular goalkeeper turned striker Daniel Boysan opened the scoring when a defensive slip left him unmarked at the back post and he slotted home. Then Mahlangu, nicknamed Rasta by his friends for his distinctively dreadlocked hair, took charge of affairs, creating the deflected own goal down the left-hand side and scoring two more just before half-time.

Ireland had their chances but found themselves trailing 4-0 at the interval. The loss due to an ankle injury halfway through the second half to keeper Gareth Egan, like his hero Shay Given a native of Lifford, Co Donegal, dealt the Irish a serious blow and soon after a penalty driven over the bar by Ireland midfielder William McGrath signified the home side’s last chance.

But for stand-in keeper Olly Boyle, who made three magnificent and brave saves at the feet of his opponents after switching from centre forward, the scoreline could have been much higher than it finished. There was still time for Mahlangu to get his hat-trick and for the impressive Walter Makoe to complete the scoring.

Ireland 1 coach Phelim Macken was not downhearted and he praised his players’ effort.

“The lads worked tremendously hard and like a lot of the games here this week the final score didn’t reflect the pattern of the match. They are all very brave and they will be disappointed now. But they’ll have their shower and go back to the village and meet their team-mates and they’ll remember they’re not just a football team but part of a bigger team called Ireland,” Macken said.

“Some of those team-mates might be celebrating medals and that might frustrate them for a little while but they’ll get over that and they’ll be celebrating with everybody else by the end of the evening.”

Marianne Mudziwa, national director of South Africa Special Olympics, was delighted to have seen her country progress, especially on a day when one of her athletes, Gail Bogana, had won gold on the Morton Stadium athletics track in the 100 metres.

“We are so happy,” she said. “This has been a perfect day. First Gail wins gold and now we qualify for the semi-finals. We expected the Irish to be our hardest opponents and we were worried about Jamaica too,” she said.

As for the exuberant celebrations and non-stop singing, Mudziwa said: “It’s just natural for us, we are a singing nation. If we are at any celebration we sing. It’s just a part of a culture and we do it wherever we go.”

Mudziwa’s point was reinforced as goals five and six struck the back of the Irish net as, with a perfect example of When in Rome, the more recognisable African sound of their pre-match ritual gave way to a rousing version of Ole! Ole! Ole! from the bench.

The old routine was back at the final whistle, though, and off the South Africans went, singing and dancing into today’s semi-finals.