Big Jomo dancing into SA soccer history

Report by Sapa-AP

Daegu – HIS girth has thickened and his step has slowed. But the Black Prince is dancing his way into sporting legend like no other South African before him.

South African coach Jomo Sono performed the self-described Jomo Dance - a unique combination of shuddering flesh, thrusting hips, air punches and flexed muscles - when his squad clinched its first ever World Cup victory against Slovenia on Saturday.

Sono longs to perform his Jomo Dance again if South Africa secure a draw against Spain tomorrow and defies the odds as group B outsiders to clinch a berth in the competition’s second round.

“If we get a draw against Spain I’ll do my Jomo Dance, lots of them,” he guffawed after South Africa’s 1-0 victory over Slovenia.

Whatever the result - and whatever the dance - Sono’s place in the South African history books is assured.

He took over as coach from Portugal’s Carlos Quieroz in March when the squad was divided, demoralized and defeated by lowly Mali in the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations.

Through a combination of coaxing, cajoling and sheer commanding, Sono licked Bafana Bafana - The Boys - back into shape.

He brought in talent from South Africa’s domestic league, including his own team Jomo Cosmos, to water down the domination of European-based players. At the same time he instilled new confidence in talent like Quinton Fortune, who spent much of his time with Manchester United on the bench but who scored a last minute penalty in South Africa’s 2-2 draw against Paraguay and set up the winning goal against Slovenia.

“The team was down in Mali, down, down, down,” said Sono after Saturday’s victory. “I’ve done a pretty good job lifting up the spirit of the players,” he said.

“The team was divided into groups and I tried to make them believe in themselves that we are all South Africans, no matter what our colour, we are all South Africans. And they are starting to believe.”

In a country still scarred by apartheid, Sono is insistent that black, mixed race and white players should blend and mix both on and off the field.

He doesn’t want to interfere in personal friendships and antagonisms, but at least they shouldn’t be dictated by colour, he maintains.

His multiracial mix of assistants and advisers echoes that philosophy.

Above all, he insists, players must feel free and enjoy their game. When they “dance” they score goals, he says.

“Jomo brings what the players need,” said captain Lucas Radebe after Saturday’s win.

“There’s nothing complicated about him. You just go there and enjoy the game and play normal football,” said Radebe, who has been capped 69 times and witnessed a long procession of coaches since South Africa rejoined world sport 10 years ago after ending its policy of racial discrimination.

During the apartheid era, Sono was South Africa’s outstanding top player.

He started with the Soweto club Orlando Pirates and went on to play for New York Cosmos, Atlanta Chiefs, Colorado Caribous and Toronto Blizzard in the now-defunct North American soccer league.

His father, Eric, played with the Pirates, and his son – also Eric – is a South African U-20 international.

He set up his own team Jomo Cosmos 20 years ago, although he has yet to win any major distinctions with it, and was caretaker coach of the national squad for a brief period in 1998.

He invented the Jomo Dance for the occasions when his club won.

To this day, Sono is described as one of South Africa’s best ever players and still retains his title as the Black Prince for his majestic qualities on pitch.

Now 46 years old and weighing in at around 130kg (estimates vary), he prefers to stand on the touchlines rather than race around with his team on the field – although he did a brief victory run after Saturday’s victory.

But his self-deprecating humor, one-line jokes and booming laugh is as lightning as ever.

Asked at a press conference about the problems of the heat in Daegu, he quipped that South Africa had applied to the sports governing body Fifa to use caps and umbrellas against the sun.

And what would happen if there was a plague of locusts?

“We duck. They fly,” came the reply.

And what about the South African players’ speed. Why do they sprint so fast?

“That’s what we do back home, we run in the jungle.”