Another record to be broken in Cape Town?

Will the Super Eagles get their African Cup of Nations qualification campaign back on track with a win over South Africa on Wednesday evening?

Records are there to be broken, or so they say, but the current Nigeria squad will surely be devastated that the Super Eagles’ proud history of resilience at home fell on their watch.
For 33 long years the West African giants hadn’t lost a competitive match on their own patch. 1981 was the last home defeat, invincibility ever since….few of the continent’s nations could have made claims greater than that…until now.
The Republic of Congo strode into town behind Claude Le Roy, a wily, savvy veteran who knows how to forge resilient, yet offensive-minded teams. He hasn’t always succeeded, but he did on Saturday, dethroning the African champions with unforgettable aplomb.
Historically, statistically, few can argue that it was not a shock to see Nigeria not only beaten at home by one of the continent’s mid-ranked sides, but also concede three (the defence, after all, was the last to be breached at the recent World Cup.)
However, anyone who has witnessed the Super Eagles in the 18 months or so since they won the African championship will be aware of how things have stagnated (if not deteriorated) for Stephen Keshi’s troops. Despite a vast and extensive talent pool, doubts remain about both the organisation of and the personnel in both the midfield and the attack. After conceding three, perhaps the defence ought to come under scrutiny as well.
There is no time for Nigeria to sulk, brood upon their failure and lick their wounds, they return to action on Wednesday evening with their second Group A fixture, against South Africa in Cape Town.
Could another record be about to fall?

The Mandela Challenge | The last time they met
To date, Nigeria have never lost a competitive fixture to South Africa.
Admittedly, Bafana Bafana were late additions to CAF—they had to wait until the end of apartheid before being readmitted in the early nineties. Therefore, the teams haven’t met as often as some, but still, despite South Africa’s relative strength (they have won one continental crown and featured at three World Cups since the mid-nineties) they’re never mustered a competitive victory against the Super Eagles.
The two teams have met nine times. Nigeria have seven victories (including three World Cup qualifiers, two at the Afcon, one at the Championship of African Nations and one friendly victory), there has been one draw (in a World Cup qualifier back in 1993) and one South African victory (the Nelson Mandela Invitational in 2004).
To date, Bafana have only ever taken one point from a possible 21 from the Eagles. It’s a record for the Super Eagles to be proud of, but will it survive beyond Wednesday?
Saturday was the first window we have had in to Shakes Mashaba’s re-building operation with South Africa. In my opinion, the Gordon Igesund reign wasn’t a disaster, but the veteran was unconvincing at the 2013 Afcon and failed to secure World Cup qualification following defeat in Addis Ababa. That, and some fairly uninspiring performances, was enough to condemn the current SuperSport United manager.
However, Bafana have only lost four of their last sixteen matches (including Nigeria, twice, and Brazil), that’s not too shabby a record and it demonstrates the platform upon which Mashaba has to build the new generation.

Mashaba | The New Man in the hotseat
The narrative runs that the new boss has completely torn up the team and rebuilt from new foundations. That’s not exactly true—of the 14 players who featured against Sudan, only one, Bongani Ndulula, hadn’t been called-up by Igesund. Similarly, while much was made, ahead of the game, about the young players promoted by the new boss, the likes of Rivaldo Coetzee, Ayabulela Magqwaka and Ramahlwe Mphahlele didn’t actually get a look-in against Sudan.
I wouldn’t expect them to feature against Nigeria either!
The narrative of revolution has been perpetuated by the fact that one of two debutants, Ndulula, was on the scoresheet.
To his credit, Mashaba has reintegrated defender Thulani Hlatshwayo and Kaizer Chiefs man Mandla Masango back into the side after being discarded by Igesund; while centre-back Eric Mathoho, who struggled to establish himself under the previous boss, lived up to his nickname of ‘Tower’ when given the opportunity.
In principle, however, there wasn’t all too much that was revolutionary about Mashaba’s approach. The 4-4-2 he employed is as old as time, while the midfield partnership of Dean Furman and Andile Jali started three of Igesund’s last five full internationals in charge.
Admittedly, Sudan looked to impose themselves upon the visitors in the early stages of their qualifier on Saturday and things began to look ominous for the Rainbow Nation. But Omdurman isn’t the fortress that some would have you believe—the Falcons of Jediane lost 3-1 there to mighty Lesotho a year ago and conceded three to Ethiopia in Khartoum a year beforehand (albeit scoring five in the process).
Yes, it was a taxing fixture for a new manager, but Sudan aren’t a patch on Nigeria—or at least, what Nigeria should be—and the Super Eagles should pose an altogether different threat on Wednesday.
What Mashaba did well, however, and what Keshi should acknowledge, was to manage his team through the game.
The experienced pair of Furman and Jali certainly helped, but Bafana impressed in knowing when to stay tight, knowing when to be cynical, knowing when to hit the flanks and knowing-as Sudan pushed forward in vain-to go for the jugular.
Surely, the Super Eagles must improve on their performance against Congo. If they can, if Keshi can choose an intelligent starting XI and if the players perform, then Nigeria should get their qualification campaign back on track.
Despite the hype, there isn’t too much about Bafana Bafana that will strike fear into Nigerian hearts. However, if the Super Eagles perform as listlessly as they did in Calabar, then another long-standing record may be about to fall.