Firepower headache for Shakes

Shakes Mashaba is resigned to tackling Bafana Bafana’s crucial opening 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Gambia in Durban tomorrow with essentially no proven goalscorer after key man Tokelo Rantie officially withdrew from the squad yesterday.

The coach admitted that a scenario where he has to rely on the inexperienced quartet of Bongi Ntuli, Vuyisile Wana, Siphelele Ntshangase and Thamsanqa Gabuza, who replaced Rantie, was worrying.

What is more of a concern is the fact that the strikers available to him have less than five caps between them and, in the recent Cosafa Cup, Bafana had four shots on target in the two matches they lost on penalties.

Mashaba also came under fire for his selection criteria as well as his side’s lack of goals at this year’s Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.

“To play without Rantie upfront will give us a little bit of a headache but we’ve got players who can do the job,” said Mashaba, who apparently tried to rope in Kermit Erasmus to take Rantie’s place, but the Orlando Pirates striker was not amused.

Erasmus seemed to voice his displeasure on Twitter on Wednesday night by informing his social media followers that he was “not a backup player”.

Mashaba wouldn’t reveal who he would have preferred over Erasmus’ teammate Gabuza: “We’ve tried to get other strikers but we have failed because most of them are on holiday. The good thing about Gabuza is that he’s fit and his team has been playing regularly in the Caf competition. If you look at our points in our selection criteria, it is current form. He did very well and we didn’t hesitate to bring him into camp.”

The SA Football Association confirmed that Rantie had written a letter asking to be excused from national team duty because of his wedding commitments.

The Bournemouth striker got married last weekend, but Mashaba and his technical team left it until late to replace him and now face Gambia with no credible marksman.

“I can’t reveal people’s affairs in the media but he was always going to get married so we were in the loop as to what is happening with him,” said Mashaba. He said he would not only pin his hopes on his four available strikers.

“If you look at all of our midfielders, they are quick and fast plus they are clever with the ball. We will have players to give us numbers when we attack and defend, which is why we’re not going to make many changes.”

Gambia, who could spoil the party at the Moses Mabhida Stadium tomorrow, have no imprint on African football and Mashaba thinks it makes them dangerous.

In the 2015 Afcon qualifiers, Bafana showed a ruthless streak against minnow teams, especially on the road but tended to be generous at home even though they went through the qualifying campaign unbeaten.

It is something Mashaba wants to avoid and he also does not want to underestimate Gambia. It will be the first time South Africa face them in any sort of fixture.

“Gambia won’t be coming here as sheep to the slaughter. They’re going to play, which is why I’m saying this thing of saying we’re one of the top-class nations while others are not needs to end. We need to get out of that thinking. It’s not about who you have in the game, it’s about what you can offer as a team,” said Mashaba.

“People may think Gambia is an easy draw but that has nearly 10 foreign-based players and they’ve already played a few games which they drew. What worries me is what they could do when we’re away to them because they will park the bus.

“They will be happy to get a point out of the game so it will be a big task for us to dismantle them.”