The longest night!

Today is the 21st June and the Winter Solstice – making it the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the Southern hemisphere. It could quite possibly feel like the longest night of their lives in the Bafana Bafana team camp.

The final games of the Group stages take place from tomorrow the 22nd June 2010 and it’s crunch time with half the 32 teams heading back to their home countries by the end of the round. The games kick off with Bafana Bafana playing against France at 4pm and Uruguay play Mexico at the same time in the Group A games. As most South Africans are well aware, Bafana Bafana has a mammoth task ahead to get through to the Round of 16 but we are confident that will put up the biggest fight of their lives, with the country behind them 100%!

The situation is not a positive one on paper for Bafana Bafana but there is a chance that they can still make the Round of 16. It will be tough for sure but this is the World Cup and there have been more surprises and upsets than it would have appeared on paper at the start of the tournament. Home crowd advantage, incredible guts and spirit and a whole lot of luck could see a miracle happen. I am not a football journalist and I am not a football analyst but I am a fan and I am copying an article on iafrica.com that helped me make sense of the situation that Bafana Bafana find themselves in and the chances that they have to progress further in the Tournament. Click here for the original article with thanks!

We need (six) Miracles
Bafana Bafana still have hope. It’s slim, hell it’s less than that, but no matter how small the chance, the World Cup hosts still have an opportunity to qualify for the second round of the tournament on Tuesday when they face France.

The 3-0 loss to Uruguay, however, did little to help their chances and unfortunately for South Africans, the team needs more than a win against France to qualify… they need a big victory. And even if they do win big, it may not be enough if the Mexico-Uruguay result does not go their way.

So what do they need to happen on Tuesday? We bring you a couple of scenarios.

How they stand:
Uruguay currently tops the group on four points. Mexico sits in second place on four points (they are behind on goal-difference). France is third on one point, just pipping South Africa (also on one) on goal-difference.

What Bafana need:
Effectively, Bafana Bafana are competing with Mexico for second place in the group. If Bafana beat France, the latter are out. If Bafana lose, they too are out of the tournament.
So, Bafana Bafana have to beat France. But they also need to beat them by a healthy margin to catch up on Mexico’s goal difference (GD) as a win will draw them level on points, but not on GD.
Bafana Bafana currently have a GD of -3, while Mexico have +2.
This effectively means that Bafana Bafana must make up a goal difference of six. For example, if they win 3-0, Mexico have to lose 3-0 to Uruguay. If Bafana Bafana only manage a 1-0 victory, Mexico would have to lose 5-0 for the World Cup hosts to go through…

You get the picture, South Africa need a miracle to qualify for the second round.

But then, when you consider the meltdown in the France camp at present, we may have just been handed one. Now if only Mexico and Uruguay play ball...

If you would like to spend the longest night (or any other night) on the Cape Point Route please contact Cape Point Route for suggestions on accommodation, activities, attractions, restaurants, shops, tours or packages in the south peninsula. We also offer assistance for Cape Town and Beyond!

Good luck Bafana Bafana - our nation is behind you, Cape Point Route is behind you and no matter what happens we are proud of your efforts and the spirit ("gees") you have generated in our nation. We hope that the phsyical length of the night does not reflect your spirits this evening!

Images:
All Bafana Bafana images found on Google images!...But we liked them - remember that dance after the Tsabalala goal, the joy on the players faces and their positive, confident body language, how proudly we sang the national anthem on 11 June 2010? And the final image is outside the Cape Point Route office with that glorious Vuvuzela moment on the 9 June 2010 when we united together to support our team. Let's not forget!