Proud to do it for Madiba
NTSEKI: PLAYING THIS GAME IS HISTORIC
It was perhaps a good omen that Bafana Bafana’s friendly games in the last Fifa break were cancelled, as it has given new coach Molefi Ntseki a chance to start his career guiding the senior national team in a game that honours the country’s first democratically elected president.
Ntseki will be in the dugout for the first time since being appointed as Bafana coach at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday when they host Mali in a Nelson Mandela Challenge match.
“Playing this game is historic as it has been played for the past 25 years. And for us to be a part of the 25th edition is the cherry on top. All the players we selected are looking forward to it as an honour to Mandela who remains our national icon,” Ntseki told the media yesterday.
“It will be my first game as a Bafana Bafana coach and I am looking forward to it. I hope the positivity we have around the team can filter on to the field so we can have a good match and a good result,” he added.
While Ntseki would have loved to play another game after Sunday’s match, he understands it would have been logistically near impossible to arrange another match for next Tuesday.
“Logistical challenges have restricted us to one match but hopefully we will make maximum use of this game. We are looking at possibly playing 90% of the players. I think it’s important everyone is here because we have back-to-back games against Ghana and Sudan (in November),” he said.
Bafana play Ghana on November 11 and Sudan a week later in 2021 Caf Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and Ntseki said the game against Mali is a good practice for them to get their groove on.
“We will be using the game to build up to the game against Ghana. If you are preparing for a game against Ghana you can’t pick a team who are below you in terms of Caf and Fifa rankings.
“We will give our best while mindful that all that is important is going to Ghana and hopefully repeating the best we would have given against Mali.”
Bongani Zungu, Percy Tau (pictured), Eric Mathoho and Keagan Dolly have niggling injuries and might not be available for Sunday’s match but both Ntseki and the team doctor, Thulani Ngwenya, said they would be assessed further before a decision is made.