For the second time in a World Cup qualifier, Bafana Bafana had to survive an onslaught from the opposition in an attempt to hang on to a lead. They were successful - but not convincing - against Senegal at the weekend, their two-goal cushion going into the half-time break proving enough, even when the visitors pulled one back later on.
But captain and defender Thulani Hlatshwayo, who scored from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute, said they would have to work tirelessly to stop the trend. Away in Ouagadougou last month, Bafana also took the lead in their Group D opener against Burkina Faso, but ended up having to settle for a point when the hosts drew level in referee’s optional time.
“We’ve obviously had difficulty protecting our lead in the last two minutes of both our games,” Hlatshwayo admitted. “We do speak as players to say we need to push up because when we try to protect the lead, we sit deeper and we are inviting pressure.
“I think what we couldn’t do against Senegal was press the ball and cut down their (Senegal) supply. The coach always tells us to avoid playing the offside trap, but try and close the opposition down and take them on one-on-one.”
Bafana might pay the price in upcoming qualifiers given that there are four matches remaining in the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The skipper couldn’t give a solution to what is turning out to be an Achilles Heel for coach Shakes Mashaba and his men, only acknowledging that it was an area that needed to be addressed pronto.
“In Burkina Faso, they put on (Aristide) Bance and we knew that they would play the long balls. This is something we have been working on with the team,” Hlatshwayo said.
“We knew who we were up against this time around as well and our strength is to keep the ball and that is what we did in the first half, making them tired. We were not intimidated and we grew in confidence as the game progressed, but later they put pressure on us and we were desperate to protect the lead.”
Hlatshwayo had partnered Mulomowandau Mathoho in central defence when Bafana faced Burkina Faso, but was deployed at right-back by Mashaba following the return of Rivaldo Coetzee, the coach arguing that it was to counter the Senegal aerial threat as well as physicality. While they appeared to somewhat match them during the game, the final 20 minutes suggests Bafana have their work cut out in working on learning how to properly absorb the pressure that comes with taking a lead in these qualifiers.
Follow Mazola Molefe on Twitter@superjourno
The Star