AS A player, former defender and Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba could hardly be described as an artful dodger with the ball at his feet.
Yet those skills were in evidence yesterday when he neatly nutmegged issues regarding the captaincy and his starting 11.
With a twinkle in his eye and a constant smile, which have been missing from the normally ebullient coach, Mashaba said the technical team had made up its mind with regards to the composition of the team.
It will be just a case of letting the rest of the squad know who will be on duty this afternoon at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Even though there have been two withdrawals of different natures through Sibusiso Vilakazi and May Mahlangu, Thulani Serero’s fitness is not a worry anymore.
“We do have one or two names,” he said in reference to the captaincy. “It is just a case of having to go through the criteria and see who is the most suitable between the two or three candidates. From there we will announce.
“We do have some names. It is not going to be an easy thing to say that so and so will be the captain.”
Mashaba hinted coyly that the captain didn’t have to be an old Bafana hand: “I know a lot of people are basing this on the senior players but there are surprises, where you could see a new player captaining the team.
“The duty of the captain is to toss and to tell the players which side of the field they will be playing from. He will not be discussing with the referee nor question the official’s decisions. We look for qualities that will be handy off the field.”
Coincidentally, the last time South Africa finished top of a qualification group was in 2003 when they glided to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations under Mashaba before he was unceremoniously booted out ahead of the tournament.
Whether Bafana go through this group unbeaten is a moot point as a treacherous trip to Nigeria looms next Wednesday, but a win against Sudan will ensure that South Africa cannot finish lower than second.
The top two teams in each group plus the best placed third team will go through to the tournament that has yet to find a host.
Mashaba said the current homelessness of the tournament has made the issue of qualification a bit of a quandary but the biggest albatross around their necks is the fact that their fate is in their own hands. It is not a position South Africa are entirely accustomed to, especially in football.
“The pressure is worse now because our fate is entirely in our hands. Whether you keep quiet or you drill it into the players, they know very well that our fate is in our hands.
“Everyone wants to win because we know it will make our lives easier,” Mashaba said.
“Preparing for tournaments has never been easy and the big problems we have as national teams is the limited time we have with players. You send call-ups at least two weeks in advance and the following week the guys are still playing for their clubs, which makes them unable to come on the expected date.”
Mashaba coy on captaincy
Yet those skills were in evidence yesterday when he neatly nutmegged issues regarding the captaincy and his starting 11.
With a twinkle in his eye and a constant smile, which have been missing from the normally ebullient coach, Mashaba said the technical team had made up its mind with regards to the composition of the team.
It will be just a case of letting the rest of the squad know who will be on duty this afternoon at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Even though there have been two withdrawals of different natures through Sibusiso Vilakazi and May Mahlangu, Thulani Serero’s fitness is not a worry anymore.
“We do have one or two names,” he said in reference to the captaincy. “It is just a case of having to go through the criteria and see who is the most suitable between the two or three candidates. From there we will announce.
“We do have some names. It is not going to be an easy thing to say that so and so will be the captain.”
Mashaba hinted coyly that the captain didn’t have to be an old Bafana hand: “I know a lot of people are basing this on the senior players but there are surprises, where you could see a new player captaining the team.
“The duty of the captain is to toss and to tell the players which side of the field they will be playing from. He will not be discussing with the referee nor question the official’s decisions. We look for qualities that will be handy off the field.”
Coincidentally, the last time South Africa finished top of a qualification group was in 2003 when they glided to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations under Mashaba before he was unceremoniously booted out ahead of the tournament.
Whether Bafana go through this group unbeaten is a moot point as a treacherous trip to Nigeria looms next Wednesday, but a win against Sudan will ensure that South Africa cannot finish lower than second.
The top two teams in each group plus the best placed third team will go through to the tournament that has yet to find a host.
Mashaba said the current homelessness of the tournament has made the issue of qualification a bit of a quandary but the biggest albatross around their necks is the fact that their fate is in their own hands. It is not a position South Africa are entirely accustomed to, especially in football.
“The pressure is worse now because our fate is entirely in our hands. Whether you keep quiet or you drill it into the players, they know very well that our fate is in our hands.
“Everyone wants to win because we know it will make our lives easier,” Mashaba said.
“Preparing for tournaments has never been easy and the big problems we have as national teams is the limited time we have with players. You send call-ups at least two weeks in advance and the following week the guys are still playing for their clubs, which makes them unable to come on the expected date.”
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