Reuters Soccer Blog

Rajevac accused of divided loyalties before Serbia match

Milovan Rajevac has already had to defend himself on several occasions as to the extent of his commitment to Ghana’s cause.

But suggestions that divided loyalties might cloud his commitment to the Black Stars’ opening game of the World Cup seem underhand and divisive.

The Serbian-born coach takes his African charges up against his homeland in the tournament in South Africa on Sunday, prompting a handful of Ghanaian football commentators to slyly suggest he will not be 100 percent committed.

Although it is an issue largely ignored by other media outlets, it does recall the ugliness that followed the heavy defeat suffered by then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) at the hands of Yugoslavia when the two countries met in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.

The 9-0 thumping in Gelsenkirchen remains a low point for African football and had life-changing ramifications for the players, who went from hero to zero, unpaid for their exploits and denied cars and properties promised them by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko as a reward for World Cup qualification. Many of the surviving members of that side today live in poverty.

Most of the vilification, however, was reserved for Blagoje Vidinic, the Yugoslav coach of the team who was accused of throwing the game.

South African potential can emerge from mountain of bricks

We are now less than a week away from the start of the Confederations Cup and the first true test of South Africa’s preparedness to host the 2010 World Cup.

It’s hard for a lot of people to take the Confederations Cup seriously, although in Germany four years ago it did develop into a summer festival and in the end proved a tasty appetiser before the main meal 12 months later.

The field for South Africa is somewhat lob-sided: Brazil, Italy and the all-conquering Spanish are the strong favourites with the United States, Egypt and South Africa perhaps having the potential to create an upset. Iraq and New Zealand should pose few problems for the big teams.

Most importantly, though, this is a test of the organisational ability of the World Cup hosts, whose preparations for 2010 have been clouded by uncertainty.

That has been partly because of international scepticism over the ability of an African country to organise an event of the magnitude of the World Cup and partly because South Africa have failed dismally to spin the positives of their bid.

But the evidence of potential is now beginning to emerge from beneath the mountains of bricks and dramatic skyline of cranes.

The stadiums are all scheduled to be completed ahead of time and the country’s infrastructure is already looking sleeker and smarter, although new road works and airport upgrades continue at pace.