Cape Town - “What you just need is to be consistent.” That was the parting shot from SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan to the Bafana Bafana squad on the eve of their departure to Burkina Faso.
Jordaan addressed the team on Monday night ahead of their journey to Ouagadougou for Saturday’s opening 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier against the Burkinabe (8pm SA time kickoff).
In comments published on the Bafana Twitter account, Jordaan told the players and coach Shakes Mashaba that they had the talent to get a much-needed victory at the weekend.
Of course, in the case of Bafana, talent has seldom been enough as they have battled to qualify for tournaments over the last decade. They missed out on the 2006 and 2014 World Cups, and only made it to the 2010 edition as hosts, while in the Africa Cup of Nations, they weren’t part of the 2010 and 2012 competitions.
They hosted the Afcon in 2013, losing to Mali on penalties in the quarter-finals, and qualified in 2015, where they ended bottom of Group C with one point in Equatorial Guinea.
But with Mashaba earning a stay of execution despite failing to lead Bafana to the 2017 Afcon in Gabon, Jordaan is hoping for an immediate turnaround, starting with Saturday’s clash against Burkina Faso.
South Africa are actually unbeaten in September, drawing 1-1 with Mauritania in Nelspruit in a dead-rubber Afcon qualifer and beating Egypt 1-0 in the Nelson Mandela Challenge a few days later in Orlando. But can they step up when it counts?
“We have to go to Burkina Faso and set the ball rolling for Russia. We want you to make the country proud. We know you can do it. We have seen you playing your best. On your day, you can beat anyone,” Jordaan said.
“You outplayed the best of Spain, did well against some of the best. What you just need is to be consistent. When you play with determination, no one can stop you. It is going to be tough, but you have what it takes to beat Burkina Faso in their backyard. Go, silence critics and do us proud.”
The Bafana team left Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon and will travel via Abidjan in the Ivory Coast before arriving in Ouagadougou on Wednesday.
Mashaba is confident of producing a positive result, and Itumeleng Khune’s team would want to secure at least a draw away from home ahead of next Tuesday’s friendly against Ghana at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban (8pm kickoff).
“This is not going to be a walkover. It will be tough, but I believe we are mentally and physically ready to welcome any challenge,” Mashaba said.
“You don’t want to play catch-up, as we did in the Africa Cup of Nations. We lost our campaign for Gabon in our two opening matches when we drew and lost to Gambia and Mauritania respectively. We have leant our lesson and want to stamp our authority from the word go.”
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@ashfakmohamed
Independent Media