New SA breed to test Paraguay
Coach Baxter to ring changes for friendly
Bafana Bafana will be looking to avoid a repeat of what happened the last time they faced South American opposition at home, when they take on Paraguay tonight.
South Africa will take on La Albirroja (White and Red) in the Nelson Mandela Challenge at the Moses Mabhida Stadium (7pm).
It’s been four years since Bafana last hosted opposition from South America, suffering a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Brazil before the 2014 Fifa World Cup. Coach Stuart Baxter is expected to reshuffle his lineup after their bruising 1-1 draw with Nigeria in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the weekend. Bafana midfielder Hlompho Kekana conceded that the friendly will give the coach a chance to experiment with a new combination in the centre of the pitch. “We have got younger players who can do the job for the country, the likes of Teboho Mokoena and Fortune Makaringe,” Kekana said. The 33-year-old has revealed that he may be rested due to some discomfort in his ankle.
Bafana still need to convince the public of their capabilities with them stuttering in the 2019 Afcon qualifiers. They are second in Group E with nine points and still need a point to qualify for the tournament in Cameroon next year.
The match against Nigeria at FNB Stadium was their penultimate group match. “There is a little bit of disappointment because, playing at home, we felt we could have won it. But we can’t complain with the point we got [and need to] make sure we win against Libya,” Kekana said. “What let us down was to let our foot off the pedal when we had Nigeria in our pockets. I feel we were a bit anxious playing the powerhouse of African football and we rushed things at times. To be honest, we must give credit to the players for trying their best in difficult conditions.”
Millions of South Africans will be deprived of watching Bafana Bafana’s Nelson Mandela Challenge clash against Paraguay this evening. The football-loving masses are caught in the crossfire between the SA Football Association (Safa) and the SABC, which also did not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between SA and Nigeria on Saturday.
The annual friendly match in honour of the world icon has historically been televised by the public broadcaster. At this year’s match, at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban (7pm), in the centenary of his birth, Madiba will sadly not be celebrated in the way he should be.
Vuyo Mhanga, the spokesperson for minister of sport and recreation Tokozile Xasa, bemoaned the fact that the match will most likely not be televised on SABC.
“It is unfortunate because we all know what Mandela means to the country, and this match has been a tradition over the years,” Mhanga said. “We need an everlasting solution because this does not augur well for us as a nation.” At the heart of the impasse is SABC’s offer to Safa of R10m for the rights to Bafana games, while the football body wants R100m per year. The department’s directorgeneral Alec Moemi has been tasked with being the mediator for the two parties. A spokesperson at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Kagiso Bonoko, said: “What is happening between the SABC and Safa is beyond the Fund and we hope that they find a resolution soon so that the majority of the South African population may once again continue to experience the wonderful game they so love.” SuperSport have confirmed that they will be televising the match.