Brilliant performance has left Russia door ajar

Iam pleased by the manner in which Bafana Bafana responded following their disappointing defeats against Cape Verde, with their 3-1 win against Burkina Faso, meaning they have a small chance of qualifying for the World Cup in Russia next year.

Bafana will play Senegal backto-back and need to win both those games. Then we will be on our way. We need to do this, because it is in our hands and we are not depending on anyone else.

It was an impressive win against the Burkinabe, one which I wouldn’t necessarily attribute to the changes that were made in the starting line-up. I want to commend the metal strength of the players because I believe that even if it were the very same players who started against Cape Verde, all they would have needed was to show their determination and the same level of focus and we would’ve came back with positive results with the same players.

When we are overly criticised and we are not given any chance to progress or to win a match, we always bounce back and for me that is a serious concern. We feel we need to wait until the criticism comes flooding our way and then that is when we come up with the desired performance. With the talent we have and with the right attitude, that alone makes me believe that we can win any game we play.

I am so happy that there was the involvement of the sports psychologist because we can take it lightly but the main point is that we need to deal with the details and the demands of playing for the national team and the role of a sports psychologist came in handy. I hope we will continue to involve these professionals, even in our junior teams.

When the time comes to face Senegal, we need to make sure that our players have the very same attitude in order to avoid underestimating or doubting themselves and that will also help to deal with the stars that the Senegalese are coming with.

They will arrive here with very big names who play for big clubs in Europe. That alone will bring about intimidation and to a certain extent, a sense of inferiority could arise, which could result in Bafana not believing in themselves

What they need to do going into these pressure game is to go in with a positive mind-set and carry forward the confidence they have got from the Burkina Faso win. Most importantly, they need to make sure they make the most of the individual quality they have.

The likes of Percy Tau and Themba Zwane are fast and very skilful, they need to maximise that and combine it with the team’s game plan. If they do that,

I don’t think it will be easy to stop them.

We need to realise that as a nation we have an advantage when compared to the rest of the African nations. We play a different and distinct style of football and we should use that advantage the best way we can. We have the flair and the individual brilliance, but the main determining factor is having the right attitude because we have seen the technical team coming up with the right game plan.

Losing Andile Jali and Bongani Zungu to suspension is a blow for Stuart Baxter, especially after they displayed those performances. However, he has a lot of talent on the bench and I believe that whoever is called upon can easily step in and do the job equally as well, if not better.