SHAKES Mashaba has made an already tricky trip to Nigeria tougher by suggesting that poor officiating tomorrow evening could cost Bafana Bafana their unbeaten record in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying campaign.
South Africa left for Nigeria on Sunday afternoon having already booked a place at next year’s tournament in Equatorial Guinea, following Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Group A’s whipping boys Sudan in Durban.
Mashaba expects his men to treat the clash against the Super Eagles, who need maximum points to qualify, with the same intensity.
But he argued that the man in the middle holds all the cards.
“The only thing with these games is to hope that we get the best match officials, that is all. If we get the best then we are confident of results coming our way. Nigeria are in trouble and they need this . The game is also about more than just the three points because of the history between the two rival countries,” said Mashaba.
“Nigerians never want to lose to South Africans and that alone will make this a humdinger of a match. We also have an assignment to break this hoodoo that we are going to lose when we play Nigeria. People always asks us if we are going to win against Nigeria, but we want to have a positive approach.”
Bafana were held to a goalless draw by Nigeria in Cape Town two months ago.
Mashaba was hard on his players in their final training session at the Nike Centre in Soweto before departure and called on them to keep calm, as well as possession of the ball, in the dying minutes of the game. In their 2-1 win against Sudan at the weekend, Bafana allowed their opponents to dictate terms, forcing them to park the bus to defend their lead.
“I see them improving game by game,” said Mashaba when asked if he expected a better display because Bafana were not under pressure as confirmed participants at the Afcon.
“I would not say they were complacent in the last few minutes against Sudan, that was something else. I think from our opening game our boys have been improving and we’ve worked on that.”
The coach resisted the temptation to lash out at his detractors, who labelled him a “cheap option” when he was appointed as Gordon Igesund’s successor in July.
“No one will ever blow your horn for you. My friends and family are talking about it. We took the under-17s, 20s and Bafana to major tournament. And we hope that we will be able to take the under-23s to the Olympics,” was Mashaba’s calculated response.
He will be forced to make at least one change against Nigeria with Thulani Serero, goal scorer and man-of-the-match against Sudan, out with a hamstring injury.
Ref may be key to outcome
South Africa left for Nigeria on Sunday afternoon having already booked a place at next year’s tournament in Equatorial Guinea, following Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Group A’s whipping boys Sudan in Durban.
Mashaba expects his men to treat the clash against the Super Eagles, who need maximum points to qualify, with the same intensity.
But he argued that the man in the middle holds all the cards.
“The only thing with these games is to hope that we get the best match officials, that is all. If we get the best then we are confident of results coming our way. Nigeria are in trouble and they need this . The game is also about more than just the three points because of the history between the two rival countries,” said Mashaba.
“Nigerians never want to lose to South Africans and that alone will make this a humdinger of a match. We also have an assignment to break this hoodoo that we are going to lose when we play Nigeria. People always asks us if we are going to win against Nigeria, but we want to have a positive approach.”
Bafana were held to a goalless draw by Nigeria in Cape Town two months ago.
Mashaba was hard on his players in their final training session at the Nike Centre in Soweto before departure and called on them to keep calm, as well as possession of the ball, in the dying minutes of the game. In their 2-1 win against Sudan at the weekend, Bafana allowed their opponents to dictate terms, forcing them to park the bus to defend their lead.
“I see them improving game by game,” said Mashaba when asked if he expected a better display because Bafana were not under pressure as confirmed participants at the Afcon.
“I would not say they were complacent in the last few minutes against Sudan, that was something else. I think from our opening game our boys have been improving and we’ve worked on that.”
The coach resisted the temptation to lash out at his detractors, who labelled him a “cheap option” when he was appointed as Gordon Igesund’s successor in July.
“No one will ever blow your horn for you. My friends and family are talking about it. We took the under-17s, 20s and Bafana to major tournament. And we hope that we will be able to take the under-23s to the Olympics,” was Mashaba’s calculated response.
He will be forced to make at least one change against Nigeria with Thulani Serero, goal scorer and man-of-the-match against Sudan, out with a hamstring injury.
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