GAME OF TWO HALVES

DURING THE HEIGHT OF APARTHEID, SOUTH AFRICA HAD HOPED TO ENTER TWO TEAMS INTO THE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

- Mark Gleeson

The legacy of apartheid means that while the World Cup has been hosted since 1930, South Africa's participation in the biggest sports event of them all was restricted to the past eight editions.

The country had to wait for the end of the evil system before it could shrug off its pariah status and take its place alongside the remainder of the footballplaying world.

South Africa's first World Cup qualifier proved a rude awakening. The naivety of the team coached by Stanley 'Screamer' Tshabalala was such that they were handed a 4-0 drubbing in Nigeria.

South Africa, however, could well have competed in the World Cup much earlier, but although members as early as 1910, they quit FIFA in the days of the British Empire to rather fall under the jurisdiction of England's Football Association and did not return to the ranks of world football's governing body until 1952.