The choking taunt is something Kiwis are used to shrugging off: rugby, cricket, the America's Cup - New Zealand sportsmen and women have long suffered from the tarring.
The latest was this:
The choker taunt irritates current and former South African cricketers. Captain AB de Villers says the team has shaken off the tag while former captain Graeme Smith hates that it comes up at all: "I think it's always been a light-hearted thing, but as an individual when you get to the knockout stage, the amount of times you get asked that question, the amount of times you read it, the amount of times people say it to you, whether it becomes an internal pressure... I don't know. It's something each individual player can own up to, it gets thrown down the South African team's throats in this tournament so often that you can't get away from it. It's about fronting up, it's about dealing with it, it's about saying, 'Look we haven't won a tournament yet, we haven't won a knockout game yet but it's about facing up and winning.'"
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And South Africa coach Russell Domingo says the team have shaken off the horrors of 1992 when they lost to England in the semi-finals.
"I was in Matric (secondary school), I was 16-years-old. There's nothing we can do about what happened in 1992, all our energy is focused on what we need to do leading into this game. The legacy of 1992 has very little bearing on now."
South Africa will win it
Not everyone is downbeat.
South Africa's Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, is sure Proteas will go through to the finals.
"I never had any doubt that they would make it this far. They've been very determined and have been boosted by the nation that keeps pumping them up. The boys have made history in making this semi-final. I have no doubt they will get to the final and bring the trophy home."
And former all-rounder Lance Klusener thinks it will be mission impossible for the Black Caps:
"The way they [South Africa] executed their plans was very good. This team, when it plays well and everyone clicks, it almost becomes impossible to beat them ... New Zealand is always going to be tough in familiar conditions."
Jacques Kallis, who is described in his own byline as "one of the greatest cricketers of all time", says the team have "finally ended their World Cup hoodoo".
In an article headlined "The dam has burst, now watch out for the flood", he said of the team's run of wins: "The expectations on the team from supporters might be high, but they're no heavier than the players place on themselves."
The team, he said, looked "energised relaxed at the same time. Obviously AB's natural confidence is rubbing off on everyone else."
Humdingers
Rob Houwing, chief writer foot Sport24, says the line-up for the semis should result in "some humdingers between premier global powers".
He says the Black Caps have transformed themselves into a powerful side:
New Zealand didn't look anything like world-beaters in October when the Proteas whipped them 2-0 away in a scheduled three-match series, each completed match won by relatively wide margins.
But since then it has been all change: the Black Caps have introduced a couple of new faces and generally stiffened their collective act to an amazing degree.
But he thinks it will be a South Africa-Australia final.
Still, they [Black Caps] will be up against a South African side which, after an inconsistent pool phase, produced its most brutal performance yet in thrashing Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the quarter-final and contains such already-established legends of the game in its fullest sense as AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn.
Simply by getting past their semi-final, people like captain De Villiers and coach Russell Domingo - though naturally aiming for bigger things -- will know that they have taken the country to its furthest point in what has so often been a cursed tournament for South Africa.
South Africa lead the ODI overall head-to-head stakes between the two nations 36-20, with five no-results.
They all stand together
The Proteas fans are of the same mind:
This is what they expect:
They are standing together:
And the view from Australia ...
Australia's sport commentators are calling for South Africa as well (well, they would, wouldn't they?).
Greg Baum, from the Sydney Morning Herald, says NZ are on a roll but the game belongs to Proteas.
New Zealand didn't win when they last played South Africa in a fully-fledged international series, in New Zealand last October. It's the only blip in their 12-month record. They've never won a World Cup semi-final, in six attempts. And if they break that hoodoo, the final is in Melbourne. New Zealand have played only five one-dayers away from their homeland in the last 12 months, and not anywhere in Australia for more than six years. As finalists, the Kiwis would definitively be foreigners.
In this context, New Zealand will still be in the estimation of most the poor cousin of these semi-finals. It is not how they see it, nor how they are carrying themselves. They are out to make history, not bow under its weight.
And Martin Gibbes, writing for the Sydney Daily Telegraph, had this to say:
After being the brunt of jokes for years for their propensity to choke under pressure, could South Africa be finally ready to deliver a long-awaited breakthrough title? They were arguably the most impressive side in the quarter-finals, producing a consummate display in the field to back up their potent and versatile bowling attack in dismantling Sri Lanka. They didn't even need AB de Villiers to bat to get over the line.The Kiwis will no doubt be tougher opponents but the Proteas should have nothing to fear.
