Shakes desperate to be a winner, not a loser
JOHANNESBURG: With the national team’s impeccable record of buckling under pressure and achieving the contrary when no one seems to care, the stage is all set for Bafana Bafana to begin the upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba did say this week that Friday’s encounter against Mauritania in the final group match for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament – a match that comes too late for South Africa to book a spot in Gabon – is a chance to prepare for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, which begins in October.
This week’s clash will be followed by a friendly against Egypt on Tuesday, for which Mashaba has confirmed he will try out one or two combinations.
In June, Bafana thumped hapless Gambia 4-0 in their biggest-ever away, having already accepted that they had no chance of qualifying for Afcon 2017 – so there was no real pressure to deliver.
The clash came a year after the two sides had met in their Group M opener in Durban, where they played to a goalless draw.
The match should have set the tone for the rest of the qualifiers for Mashaba and his men, but instead Bafana went on to lose away from home to Mauritania in a humiliating 3-1 defeat. Back-to-back draws against Cameroon followed.
Mashaba has spoken about how he is full of regret, especially with the lack of preparation from his part during Bafana’s Afcon qualification campaign.
But he has a chance to make amends and get the naysayers on his side again. After all, it was Mashaba who helped Bafana qualify unbeaten for Afcon 2015 in Equatorial Guinea.
“Everybody loves a winner,” the coach said this week. “One of my favourite records – and I still have it – is sung by Rita Coolidge (1972) and is titled ‘Everybody Loves a Winner’.
“It is true, nobody likes losers. So what we are saying is that we will try and build up gradually. And what I like is that we are aware of the gradual process.
“We don’t want to strangle these players, but if they don’t do it now it means the future is bleak for them.”
Mashaba was responding to a question on whether he would be handing debuts to young players, including the likes of Abbubaker Mobara and Gift Motupa, players who were part of South Africa’s Olympic team in Rio.
But he admits the two matches are about more than just blending experience with youth. “We all know why we have gathered,” Mashaba said.
“A lot of us have termed our game on Friday a friendly match, but there has never been a friendly match when two countries come together.
“There is a lot at stake and we have to use these games as preparations for the World Cup qualifiers.”
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