Bafana Bafana simply cannot let the nation down again when they meet Libya in a crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, says Dean Furman.
The hard-working SuperSport United central midfielder admitted that the perennially underachieving national team had failed the country too often.
He said Bafana are keyed up to turn around that frustrating trend, and make South Africans happy for once by reaching Cameroon 2019.
The South Africans started with a 2-0 win against Nigeria. With Seychelles, who Libya beat 5-1 in their opener in Egypt, seemingly destined to finish last, as it stands the Mediterranean Knights and Nigeria are Bafana’s main rivals for the top two spots and qualification.
Win on Saturday and South Africa have a foot in the finals after just two qualifiers. Lose and the epic first competitive victory for Bafana against Nigeria in Uyo last year will be nullified.
“It’s a huge game,” said Furman. “It feels like a long, long time ago, but obviously we got off to the perfect start in this group with a huge win away in Nigeria, and we want to take advantage of that win and really bring that form to home.
“Our last game here was a disappointment, and this is a ground that’s been particularly good to us before that. And we hope that the fans come out to cheer us on, because we are fully focused and hungry to make sure that we are at Afcon 2019.
“It begins now. It did also begin a while ago. But it really feels like we’re in Afcon mode now and we’re fully focused on qualifying for this tournament.
“There can’t be any more slipups. We’ve let ourselves down. We’ve let the nation down on too many occasions – certainly during my time with Bafana. And certainly our motivation is to not let that happen again, and that can start by picking up three points on Saturday.”
With Amiens SC’s Bongani Zungu and Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana both injured, Furman seems likely to partner Brentford City’s Kamohelo Mokotjo in coach Stuart Baxter’s central midfield.
Libya are ranked 101st in the world and SA 74th...