Several Bafana Bafana players who watched the Nouakchott debacle unfold from the comfort of their lounges a year ago, reckon it was a match the national team should never have lost, bringing into focus coach Shakes Mashaba’s selection criteria against lowly Mauritania, who humiliated South Africa 3-1 in a trip to forget.
The two sides meet tonight at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit in a match that has no bearing on the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification for Bafana, but could still prove crucial for the visitors with a win giving them a chance to progress as one the two best runners-up. Mashaba has included seven Olympians from the Under-23 team that took part in the Rio Games to test whether they are made for this level of international football using a clash that doesn’t come with a lot of expectations.
Defeat to Mauritania 12 months ago is still haunting the coach and clearly a few of the Bafana players, especially those who had not made the trip.
Earlier this week it was Thulani Hlatshwayo who said that result could have been better, and Ramahlwe Mphahlele joined the chorus yesterday prior to the team’s final training session in Nelspruit.
“I watched the match against Mauritania and I feel we did not deserve to lose against them as I believe we are better than them,” said the player who has only recently rejoined the set-up and featured in Bafana’s biggest ever away win, the 4-0 thumping of Gambia last month. “Now they are coming into our home, we must win and move on to the next game.
“Even though we know we are not playing to qualify for Afcon, this is good preparation for the 2018 World Cup (qualifiers) in Russia. We have the advantage as we are playing in front of our fans and I don’t see anything stopping us from beating them.”
Easier said than done. Before their departure to Nouakchott last year, Bafana were expected to walk all over Gambia and Mauritania, with Cameroon the only side seen as a serious threat in their attempts to finish top of Group M and qualify for the Gabon showpiece. What followed would not have been scripted as Mashaba made a few selection blunders, among them selecting a player who was technically clubless at the time and lacked match fitness in defender Siyabonga Zulu. He was sent off in the first half. The Bafana coach also did not know that the qualifier would be played on an artificial pitch, leaving his men disadvantaged from the onset.
Tonight represents a rare chance to set the record straight: Bafana are ‘better’ than Mauritania.
To prove they should not have gone toe-to-toe with Gambia in the opener of the Afcon qualifiers in June last year, Mashaba picked a ruthless side in the return leg and the minnows were put in their place. Mauritania deserve no less.
“This is a very important game for the country. Remember we lost to Mauritania 3-1 and we want to reverse the results, and also we are preparing for the world cup qualifiers so we need to win so that we have the momentum and the confidence to tackle the qualifiers. We must qualify for Russia,” said Mphahlele.
“We had a good game against Gambia, most of the guys who were in that match are here and we still have the confidence, so we believe we can carry the performance of that match into this game and come out victorious. We want to close these qualifiers with a win, which will be our second victory in the qualifiers.” - The Star
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