There was a lot of laughing during Bafana Bafana’s final training session at Cape Town Stadium last night.
The spirit in the camp is fantastic and there is a good feeling surrounding the national team going into tonight’s highly anticipated Africa Cup of Nations clash against Nigeria in the Mother City (kick-off, 8pm).
The side even had a bit of a walkabout at the Canal Walk Shopping Centre yesterday morning to meet their fans, and to spend a bit of their allowance.
This is in stark contrast to the last time Bafana faced the Super Eagles in Cape Town.
Their early exit from the African Nations Championship (Chan) at the hands of Nigeria was seen as yet another blot on Bafana’s copybook.
Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula called Bafana a “bunch of losers” and Gordon Igesund was accused of all sorts of things, before Safa decided not to renew his contract a few months later.
There is renewed hope that the tide for the national team is turning under the new management. The win against Sudan in coach Shakes Mashaba’s first match in charge has brought a bit of optimism back.
However, the coach knows his dream start in this qualifying campaign can easily turn into a nightmare against a powerful Nigerian side, that suddenly find themselves in a dark period.
Their Football Federations antics almost led to a ban that would have put this clash in jeopardy. The Super Eagles are also going into the match on the back of a 3-2 home defeat against Congo Brazzaville, while they don’t know how long coach Stephen Keshi will still be involved with the team.
But Nigeria are still the African champions, and they must be treated with the respect they deserve, especially because South Africa have never beaten the Super Eagles in a competitive match.
But a lot of people feel that this could be Bafana’s chance to turn the tables on their west African rivals.
“It s going to be a difficult game. We know Nigeria are a top side, they are the African champions. We can’t underestimate them,” Bafana central midfielder Dean Furman said yesterday. “It’s going to be a difficult game and we have to approach the game with total focus and concentrate on what the coach wants us to do.
“But the belief in the squad is there. We want to go out and play for the three points so that we have maximum points from our first two games.”
Furman’s main job will be to keep Nigeria star John Obi Mikel quiet. The Chelsea man plays a more advanced role for his country and will certainly be a threat in and around the Bafana penalty area.
Bafana had a lot of man-marking drills this week and it seems they are going to press Nigeria high up the pitch and not give them any space.
“We know within our squad we have a tremendous amount of skill. But we will have to match the Nigerians’ physicality. We have to be strong and we have to be up for the challenge,” Furman said.
“If we can match them in that department, we know we have the skill to score goals. So we have to make sure that we are strong and hard to beat.”
Nigeria’s captain Austin Ejide knows his team need to avoid defeat tonight after the surprising results in the first round of matches.
“This game is important for us because of what happened in the last game on our home ground. It was unfortunate for us, but now we have an opportunity to make it right,” Ejide said.
Their preparations haven’t been ideal, but the captain says the chaos that engulfed the team will not be a stumbling block. “We are stronger mentally. Being African men, this is how we live. These things happen in leadership. We had it a long time ago and we grew stronger,” he said.– The Star