Gallo Images
Teko Modise practises at a Bafana Bafana training session at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban yesterday in preparation for their friendly against Senegal today. Picture: Gallo Images
The road to Brazil 2014 begins tonight at the Moses Mabhida Stadium when SA face Senegal in their last scheduled international friendly before the World Cup qualifiers start in June.
After the rule book disaster that saw Bafana Bafana fail to qualify for last month’s African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, coach Pitso Mosimane and his team will be desperate to enjoy that winning feeling again. Seven games have passed without a win. In that time Bafana drew against Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and eventual African champions Zambia.
Despite some positive performances in those outings, Mosimane said it was about time they started to win in order to rebuild self-belief and regain the public’s support, especially because this will be the last opportunity for the squad to gather before the first World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia in June.
The timing of the clash is awkward in that some of the nine Europe-based players arrived on Monday, and three of them joined the squad yesterday. Travel delays meant that the Belgium-based trio of Anele Ngcongca, Siboniso Gaxa and Daylon Claasen reached Durban yesterday afternoon, in time for only one training session.
SA are still in a better position than the visitors. The majority of the squad is home-based, whereas the Senegalese are from Europe and touched down in Durban on a chartered flight later than their hosts. The Teranga Lions were set to hold their first training run at the match venue last night. In terms of experience and consistency SA have the edge. Senegal lost all their matches at the Nations Cup and are rebuilding under a new technical staff with more new faces than SA. Psychologically, too, SA hold an advantage. Bafana are ranked 10th on the continent, whereas Senegal slipped from fourth before Afcon to 16th.
In midfield, the hosts are likely to include captain Steven Pienaar, Kagiso Dikgacoi, Thanduyise Khuboni and Teko Modise.
Senegal’s rebuilding phase didn’t mean they would be push-overs, said defender Morgan Gould.
“We shouldn’t take them lightly. They’re still a powerhouse. They didn’t do well at Afcon so they will want to do well. They are wounded lions who will come with guns blazing, so we’ve got to be on our toes to stop them scoring. There’s also a bit of transition for our new players to adjust to, but we’ll do what we’ve got to do,” said Gould.
He was referring to recent recruits, midfielders Thamsanqa Sangweni and May Mahlangu, and strikers Siyabonga Nontshinga and Edward Manqele. Although he’s already a hit in Sweden where he won the league and several player awards last season, Mahlangu is not taking his elevation to the national set-up for granted.
“I’m still growing as a player. The competition is very tough and I need to work hard. There are very good players in midfield so I have to fight for my position. I don’t think about what I’ve done in Sweden. I think about what I’m going to do now. This is about the nation and I hope to do well,” said the 22-year-old central midfielder.
In contrast, Senegal have brought only nine players from their forgetful Afcon campaign and could lack cohesion. According to Maritzburg United’s Senegalese defender Mor Diouf, at least three players are uncapped and many others are being promoted from the junior national squads. Kick-off is at 8.35pm.
