Cape Town - Cape Town City’s success is a timely reminder for football in South Africa about the critical importance of the team. Far too often the sport in this country is characterised by rampant egos and gratuitous individualism. And, like it or not, this remains one of the main obstacles to its progress.
Yet, just six months into its existence as a football club, City are top of the PSL standings and Telkom Knockout champions. The secret is contained in the words of club captain Lebogang Manyama: “There are no stars in this team”.
The Cape side has captured the imagination of football followers with the plain, old-fashion values that have made this game great throughout the ages: teamwork.
Football is called “the beautiful game” for a reason, in that there is beauty in simplicity. In South Africa, too often we make things too difficult.
Showboating, playing to the crowd, intricate, yet sideways, passing patterns that end nowhere, dwelling on the ball too long and players frequently adopting a “look-at-me” attitude.
It’s this arrogant, egocentric approach that is the biggest stumbling block to the advancement of football in this country.
City have, over the past few months, demonstrated how to achieve when the team is the only thing. They’ve shown that the team’s strength is contained in each and every one of them, and that their own individual strength is founded on the collective, on the whole. Nobody is more important than his teammate; they are all in it together, they all work together towards a common goal.
Talent, ability and skill mean nothing on its own. Success and victory are achieved through the effort of the team. Individuals may shine, but they are only able to do so because of the sweat and slog of teammates around them.
As cup final Man of the Match Aubrey Ngoma remarked on receiving his award after the game on Saturday: “If we could have chosen 11 men of the match, then we would have chosen 11.”
There’s a lesson there - and, if it can be harnessed, and inculcated into the fibre and culture of football in South Africa, just imagine what can be achieved. Because alone, as individuals, not all that much can be done, but as a unit, as a whole, as a team, the world’s your oyster. Anything is possible.
It had to happen sometime...the ENTIRE @CapeTownCityFC squad are our #ExtraStrong Team of the Week https://t.co/hO1b6lzBpq @superjourno
— Extra Strong (@extrastrongsa) December 13, 2016