Mongomo – Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba said his preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations were almost perfect, and made no bones about the fact that they were gunning for continental glory.
South Africa take on tournament favourites Algeria in their opening clash of this year’s Afcon at the Estadio de Mongomo tonight (kickoff 9pm SA time).
“The camp out in Gabon addressed all our problems,” the veteran coach told media last night. We expected to face difficult opposition here. The three teams in our group will require three different approaches. That is why we played Zambia, Cameroon and Mali, three different teams, with three different styles.
“We also managed to acclimate to the heat and the humidity, which is going to be a huge factor at this tournament.”
Mashaba, who is unbeaten in his last 10 matches since taking over the Bafana job in August, is certainly confident that his team can again claim Afcon glory for the first time in 19 years.
Mashaba also said his players are up for the fight after a couple of gruelling sessions since they got off the plane in this sparsely populated rural town on Friday afternoon.
The team had two sessions here ahead of the match, with Mashaba holding his cards quite close to his chest and mixing and matching his teams during his training sessions.
The players, though, have been climbing into each other to try and get one of the prized 11 spots for tonight’s game against the No 1-ranked team in Africa.
“Since day one, everything has gone right for us. To qualify with one game to go gave us confidence, and now anything can happen.
“But it’s going to be really important to win the first game and set the tone to qualify for the quarter-finals. We have confidence that the boys can do that, and in the last session they showed a willingness to work hard, although at this time everyone is scared of injuries just ahead of the tournament.”
The Bafana coach didn’t announce who would captain the team against the Desert Foxes tonight, although star midfielder Dean Furman did sit next to him at the official coach and captain press conference last night. Furman captained Bafana three times in their past five matches, while Anele Ngcongca (pictured) and Andile Jali also adorned the captain’s armband in the past three.
Mashaba also said it didn’t take him long to pick the team for the game, and will announce it later today.
“It is going to be game by game at this tournament. If one player strikes it rich maybe we will keep him.
“But we are looking at a player who is level headed and can influence his teammates, to do what is expected of him on the field, and a player who is able to carry out the coach’s instructions during the match.” - The Star