Khune ready to step up
BAFANA Bafana’s No 1 Itumeleng Khune says it is time to put the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations behind them, going into the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Bafana kick off their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with an away clash against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on October 8 and Khune believes the senior players, including himself, will have a big role to play in terms of helping the less experienced players cope on the international stage.
In the Afcon qualifiers, SA finished third in Group M on seven points‚ behind Cameroon on 12 and Mauritania on eight.
“Yeah, it [was] the pressure. You see new faces in the team and those players are not used to that level. So for us as senior players we tried to help them settle in, but for some of the players it is not easy and that affects the team,” argued Khune, who has 79 national team caps to his name.
The 29-year-old said the experienced campaigners in the team will try to do more to ensure the team qualifies for the 2018 World Cup. Khune is confident they have learned from their poor showing in the Afcon qualifiers and will bounce back in the World Cup qualifiers starting next month.
“It is very difficult for the country because we qualified for the 2015 Afcon and having not qualified now after playing so many draws at home. It is something that we don’t want to go through again,” stated the Ventersdorp-born shot stopper.
The Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper maintained that the national team will make amends.
“We learnt our lesson from the Afcon qualifiers and we have to do very well in the World Cup qualifiers.”
Besides Burkina Faso, South Africa will also have to contend with Senegal and Cape Verde Islands in Group D.