Bafana Bafana’s superb unbeaten qualifying campaign for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) has laid the foundation for the squad to go on and do well at the continental showpiece in Equatorial Guinea early next year.
This is the opinion of recently-appointed South Africa football captain Dean Furman, after hearing the news that Bafana had been drawn in Group C for the event, alongside Ghana, Algeria and Senegal. It’s a really tough group, which has already been touted as the tournament’s “group of death”.
Furman, who plays his football for Doncaster Rovers in League One in England, was born in the Mother City before leaving for England at a young age.
He has been, without doubt, the country’s most consistent footballer over the last year.
Despite the difficult group, with Algeria ranked number one on the continent, Senegal fourth and Ghana fifth, Furman believes Bafana have what it takes to give a good account of themselves at Afcon.
The event will be held in Equatorial Guinea from January 17 to February 8 next year in the cities of Bata, Ebebiyin, Malabo and Mongomo.
“It is a great draw,” said Furman. “It is without doubt very tough, but also exciting at the same time. We are really looking forward to the tournament. We are thankful that we went through the qualifiers without a loss and that really has enhanced our character. We need to continue from where we left off in the qualifiers.
“We put in a lot of hard work in all those matches, now we have to double our efforts because there are three good teams we are taking on and they have different styles of play. But we are confident that we can do well. We will take some lessons from the qualifiers where we finished without defeat, and improve on them heading to the tournament. Good preparations will give us a head start to the tournament.”
Bafana defender Anele Ngcongca, also from the Mother City, originally from Gugulethu, and who plays for Racing Genk in Belgium, echoed the thoughts of his teammate.
“It is indeed the group of death, but, on the field, it is 11 versus 11,” said Ngcongca. “If we go there with a positive mentality, we will get positive results. I saw all three teams in the qualifiers and they did very well, just like us, which means it is going to be tough for every team in the group.
“We will have to be ready for everything the other teams throw at us because we want to make South Africa proud at the tournament.
“We know the strength of west Africans, with their physique, so we will have to stick to what we know best, and not get into a physical battle with them.
“We must concentrate on our passing game and quick counter-attacks. Judging from the qualifiers, we could be the team to beat as we finished unbeaten compared to the other three who each lost a match.” - Weekend Argus