Makgopa urges Bafana to keep their heads down
BAFANA Bafana have placed a huge emphasis on shaking off the hangover from the celebrations after they completed one of the biggest shocks at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The South African national team impressively dispatched the No 1-ranked nation in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) rankings, Morocco, on Tuesday night to secure their spot in the quarter-finals.
That was Bafana’s second win in the four games they’ve played in Ivory Coast so far, with a 2-0 loss to Mali in their tournament opener being followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Namibia and a goalless draw with Tunisia.
But it was a second consecutive victory over the much-fancied Atlas Lions, having beaten them in the Afcon qualifiers last year.
The celebrations were extravagant as first Evidence Makgopa and later Teboho Mokoena scored the goals to give Bafana the win.
However, speaking days after that famous night at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San-Pedro, members of Bafana’s squad have placed great emphasis on shaking off that feeling of euphoria.
Orlando Pirates man Makgopa, who opened his account at the tournament in the last match, highlighted the importance of remaining humble ahead of their next match against Cape Verde tomorrow night (10pm kick-off, SA time) in Yamoussoukro.
“I think we have to keep our heads down and be focused on the next time, and forget about the previous one.
“I think that’s going to help us,” he told the Safa media department.
“It’s not a completely new start from the previous game because you have to improve on the last one – but at the same time, you have to forget what happened, about the previous results.”
Mamelodi Sundowns winger Thapelo Morena echoed the sentiments of Makgopa, while underlining how important it is to recover both physically and mentally before taking to the pitch tomorrow.
“I think the most important thing is celebrating for 24 hours, and to forget and focus on the new match. We need to try and get more rest, and have a huge emphasis on training and recovery,” Morena said.
The inclusion of 36-year-old Pirates midfielder Thabang Monare was met with great criticism before the tournament, but he has proven his worth in three substitute appearances in Ivory Coast.
Monare has added valuable experience on and off the field.
He expressed his joy at seeing Bafana grow into a family over the course of the tournament as they continue to battle in unison.
“It’s been good. I’m very happy to see the brotherhood and the love we have for one another.
“We’ve become more than a team that wants to play football – we’ve become aware of one another as family,” he said.
Bafana will face a Cape Verde side currently on the up, and having beaten Ghana, Mozambique and Mauritania and drawn against Egypt, the Blue Sharks are no slouches.
They have a particularly decent record against Bafana, beating them the last two times they met, with the one and only draw between the two nations coming in 2013.
While a surge in confidence places Bafana slightly ahead as the favourites going into this game, the Blue Sharks