In his assessment of Bafana Bafana’s display at the Africa Cup of Nations, midfielder Andile Jali seemed to contradict national team coach Shakes Mashaba.
Jali lamented the lack of experience in a Bafana side that never had trouble creating chances, but had almost no composure in their finishing.
South Africa went out of the Afcon having failed to win a single match in Group C after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Algeria in their opener, were held to a 1-1 draw by Senegal and losing 2-1 to Ghana. In all three matches, Bafana had taken the lead only to squander it, something Jali believes could have been avoided with experience.
He wasn’t malicious in his criticism of Bafana, but used a word Mashaba has dismissed throughout his tenure so far.
“Experience counts. We are scoring beautiful goals and after that we sit back, allowing them to come back and equalise, which puts us under pressure,” said Jali.
“We’ve now learnt that when you score first you should not defend so deep. It happened several times in this tournament. In a tournament like this, you should never sit back after scoring first. I think the lack of experience led to us sitting back a lot of the time to try and protect the goal.”
Jali also pleaded for patience from Bafana fans, who were once again disappointed after they had begun believing in Mashaba’s team again.
“They can’t react after a tournament like this. It was the first time here for most of us. I think they must bear with us because we worked hard to get here. They must support us to go forward because if they kill our confidence we can’t bounce back. But their support means we can maybe bounce back in another tournament,” he said.
The Belgium-based player had a storming start to the Afcon, but soon faded in the last two matches of the group stages. He said the physicality of the Senegal clash was energy-sapping.
“I think the second game killed us more than the first. We pushed a lot in the opening match and even more in the second. I think we were a bit tired in the last game even though we put our best foot forward, but results were not in our favour,” said Jali.
Shakes berates his detractors
Jali lamented the lack of experience in a Bafana side that never had trouble creating chances, but had almost no composure in their finishing.
South Africa went out of the Afcon having failed to win a single match in Group C after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Algeria in their opener, were held to a 1-1 draw by Senegal and losing 2-1 to Ghana. In all three matches, Bafana had taken the lead only to squander it, something Jali believes could have been avoided with experience.
He wasn’t malicious in his criticism of Bafana, but used a word Mashaba has dismissed throughout his tenure so far.
“Experience counts. We are scoring beautiful goals and after that we sit back, allowing them to come back and equalise, which puts us under pressure,” said Jali.
“We’ve now learnt that when you score first you should not defend so deep. It happened several times in this tournament. In a tournament like this, you should never sit back after scoring first. I think the lack of experience led to us sitting back a lot of the time to try and protect the goal.”
Jali also pleaded for patience from Bafana fans, who were once again disappointed after they had begun believing in Mashaba’s team again.
“They can’t react after a tournament like this. It was the first time here for most of us. I think they must bear with us because we worked hard to get here. They must support us to go forward because if they kill our confidence we can’t bounce back. But their support means we can maybe bounce back in another tournament,” he said.
The Belgium-based player had a storming start to the Afcon, but soon faded in the last two matches of the group stages. He said the physicality of the Senegal clash was energy-sapping.
“I think the second game killed us more than the first. We pushed a lot in the opening match and even more in the second. I think we were a bit tired in the last game even though we put our best foot forward, but results were not in our favour,” said Jali.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos