Newly appointed Safa Technical Director (TD) Neil Tovey believes that Bafana Bafana’s matches should be played at FNB Stadium and nowhere else in the country.
Tovey was over the weekend appointed Safa’s TD in Nasrec, Johannesburg on a five-year deal.
Among his many responsibilities, the former Bafana skipper is expected to oversee a roll out of training of coaches, as well as developing young football talent within the country.
At the SAB Under-21 National Championships in Soshanguve, Pretoria yesterday, Tovey stated that he won’t be interfering with Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba’s coaching methods. However, he will offer advice whenever he feels it necessary.
“I made it quite clear that I won’t have time to run around behind the senior national team, given the amount of work I’ll have to do as a Technical Director,” Tovey said. “Yes I’ll be there to lend a hand. Not from a coaching perspective per se, but to talk to the technical team and exchange ideas with regards to, for example, where a national team match should be played.
“To be quite honest, I was not happy we played Gambia (in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier) in Durban. The game should have been played at altitude to make the Gambian team suffer. In that game they were panting and out of breath in the last 15 minutes of the game. I believe they’d have been out of breath in the last 45 minutes had we played them at altitude.
“I understand these decisions are influenced by finances. But I believe that financial perspectives can be applied when it comes to friendly matches. This is the only time when the national team should play outside of Gauteng,” he added.
“If you’ve got a national stadium then that’s where you need to be playing your national games. Otherwise why should you call it a national stadium? You’ve got to turn it into a fortress, a place other national teams will dread.”
Meanwhile, Northern Cape started off their U-21 National Championship campaign with a 1-0 win over Gauteng. USSA beat North West 3-1, while the Western Cape were held to 1-1 draw by Mpumalanga. Gauteng were subjected to another defeat as they lost 3-2 against defending champions Free State. It proved to be Free State’s day as they went on to beat Mpumalanga 2-1 in a tight encounter. KwaZulu Natal lost 2-0 to Limpopo. - The Star