Bafana Bafana are tired of being known as the continent’s whipping boys, said defender Tefu Mashamaite ahead of the team’s departure today for Saturday’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in Pointe Noire.
Mashamaite was thrust to the forefront this week as the most likely replacement for the injured Anele Ngcongca in central defence after a place in the squad seemed unlikely.
He has picked up on a mindset under new coach Shakes Mashaba of setting the record straight, with the first objective qualifying for January’s Afcon in Morocco.
“To be honest, I never thought I would play for Bafana again,” the Kaizer Chiefs defender said yesterday.
“But things happen in life. The coach said with my club performance, he couldn’t really ignore me. I’m here to learn and add something to what they are building here.
“The average age of the group is about 26. I’m 30 and ‘Yeye’ is 32. So we will be looking to add experience.
“Having said that, guys like Andile Jali have been around. Senzo Meyiwa has been to the Champions League final. We are a young but experienced team.
“The spirit of positivity always rubs off in a good way, especially as the coach was a change in mindset. We don’t want to be known as Bafana Bafana, the whipping boys of the African continent. We need to change that, and this is a good place to start.”
Bafana’s matches against Congo on Saturday, then Wednesday in Polokwane, are crucial to their fate in Group A. Congo’s opening wins against Nigeria and Sudan see Africa’s Red Devils topping the group with six points.
SA are second on four points but are aware that Nigeria (one point) are likely to make up as much as six points in their two matches against Sudan.
“We saw what Congo did against Nigeria and this is going to be a real test,” said Mashamaite.
“I watched the whole 90 minutes of that game and I think Congo are more organised under Claude le Roy. They’ve got big, physical players.
“But I saw them lose concentration, allowing Nigeria back into the game. The coaches have done research on that and we’ll look to capitalise on those things.”
SA meet Congo on an artificial surface at 3.30pm Pointe Noire time (4.30pm SA time). Mashaba has had experiences with his junior teams in west Africa where, playing on synthetic surfaces, players use most of their water to cool their boots down.
Bafana have trained at Royal Marang Hotel in Rustenburg, which has an artificial surface.
“Us training on it at 3pm here, I think will be almost the same conditions we’ll find in Congo,” said Mashamaite.
“The bounce is tricky on an artificial surface. The heat seems to be on the ground, and your feet get hot very quickly.
“I’ve heard of players putting water in their boots, but then they got blisters. You just have to endure.”
Bafana plan Cup coup in Point Noire
Mashamaite was thrust to the forefront this week as the most likely replacement for the injured Anele Ngcongca in central defence after a place in the squad seemed unlikely.
He has picked up on a mindset under new coach Shakes Mashaba of setting the record straight, with the first objective qualifying for January’s Afcon in Morocco.
“To be honest, I never thought I would play for Bafana again,” the Kaizer Chiefs defender said yesterday.
“But things happen in life. The coach said with my club performance, he couldn’t really ignore me. I’m here to learn and add something to what they are building here.
“The average age of the group is about 26. I’m 30 and ‘Yeye’ is 32. So we will be looking to add experience.
“Having said that, guys like Andile Jali have been around. Senzo Meyiwa has been to the Champions League final. We are a young but experienced team.
“The spirit of positivity always rubs off in a good way, especially as the coach was a change in mindset. We don’t want to be known as Bafana Bafana, the whipping boys of the African continent. We need to change that, and this is a good place to start.”
Bafana’s matches against Congo on Saturday, then Wednesday in Polokwane, are crucial to their fate in Group A. Congo’s opening wins against Nigeria and Sudan see Africa’s Red Devils topping the group with six points.
SA are second on four points but are aware that Nigeria (one point) are likely to make up as much as six points in their two matches against Sudan.
“We saw what Congo did against Nigeria and this is going to be a real test,” said Mashamaite.
“I watched the whole 90 minutes of that game and I think Congo are more organised under Claude le Roy. They’ve got big, physical players.
“But I saw them lose concentration, allowing Nigeria back into the game. The coaches have done research on that and we’ll look to capitalise on those things.”
SA meet Congo on an artificial surface at 3.30pm Pointe Noire time (4.30pm SA time). Mashaba has had experiences with his junior teams in west Africa where, playing on synthetic surfaces, players use most of their water to cool their boots down.
Bafana have trained at Royal Marang Hotel in Rustenburg, which has an artificial surface.
“Us training on it at 3pm here, I think will be almost the same conditions we’ll find in Congo,” said Mashamaite.
“The bounce is tricky on an artificial surface. The heat seems to be on the ground, and your feet get hot very quickly.
“I’ve heard of players putting water in their boots, but then they got blisters. You just have to endure.”
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