A little over a year ago, Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba made an error that continues to haunt him and essentially put his job on the line when he named a team that would travel to Mauritania for the national team’s second 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier.
The Nouakchott debacle is well documented, where Mashaba’s men were humbled 3-1 by the minnows as they unknowingly played on an artificial pitch and left-back Siyabonga Zulu, making his debut, was sent off five minutes into the second half.
There can be no repeats as Bafana begin their journey to the 2018 World Cup in Russia with an away clash against a plucky Burkina Faso at the Stade du 4 Aout on Saturday for the 8pm kick-off (SA time).
Mashaba believes he’s picked a squad good enough to overcome The Stallions, a team Bafana have beaten four times in seven meetings since the two sides first squared up in 2001 at the Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg.
“On paper, this is the right team,” was Mashaba’s short response when asked whether he had picked the best available players when he announced his 25-man squad late last month.
“But we will not know for sure until we are on the pitch and feel we have to make a change or two to get the (positive) result that we want.” The coach has blamed a lack of preparation for the failed attempt to qualify for next year’s Afcon in Gabon, but this week he seemed confident that his bosses, the SA Football Association, had been supportive in helping Bafana plan better.
“Our approach this time differs a little bit from the other games that we have played,” Mashaba explained. “The first thing is the administrative side because we made sure that everything is done in good time and we know what to expect where we are going.
“The second one is that we have made sure from the medical department that we are not taking players who will never help us when we get there. And the final point is the mental state of the players. Are they geared and ready? Some of them come from a big cup final (MTN8, where Bidvest Wits beat Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0). But we don’t want to make too many changes.”
Mashaba was quick to replace injured centre-back Rivaldo Coetzee with Isaac Nhlapho, pictured, as Bafana cannot afford to gamble and travel with a player who will only be ruled out hours prior to this crucial qualifier.
The coach will also be encouraged by the fact that several members of his 25-man squad have shown they are more than just good enough on paper, at club level at least, when they played last week.
Eleazar Rodgers scored and created another goal to help Wits clinch the MTN8 trophy, while winger Ayanda Patosi set-up both goals in his Belgian club Lokeren’s 2-1 victory over KV Kortrijk at the weekend, and a few more players appear to be on-form.
“That is exactly what we are looking for when we bring players into camp,” said Mashaba. “We know that scoring goals has been our biggest problem. We do create a lot of chances, but the problem is finishing. But we can only hope we have picked the kind of players that will help us solve that problem. I think we only need two goals to make sure we win all three points.”
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