Furman happy to rest
SUPERSPORT SKIPPER: NOW THE GUYS CAN REALLY ENJOY THIS MTN8 VICTORY
SuperSport United captain Dean Furman is glad the international break comes immediately after he skippered the capital city campaigners to MTN8 glory after defeating Highlands Park 1-0 in Soweto this past weekend.
Furman says the team will get the opportunity to celebrate their success without thinking about the next game as the Absa Premiership only resumes later this month.
“There is a bit of a break from domestic football and the guys can really enjoy this victory because often after winning a cup you play three days later and you can’t even enjoy it. It is nice and we can celebrate and when the league comes back around it is vital we push on because we really want to have a big season,” said Furman.
The 31-year-old said he hopes the cup success will rub off in the league where they are currently sixth – eight points behind leaders Kaizer Chiefs.
“We want to push for the top three and we have shown with our start that we are competitive with the top teams in this league. It is wonderful that we have won the MTN8, it is a season-opener but the league is certainly our priority and we have to switch our focus back to the league soon.”
While many of his team-mates will be celebrating the win as they will have a trophy parade in Pretoria this week, Furman will be on the training pitch with Bafana Bafana preparing for the Nelson Mandela Challenge against Mali this Sunday in the Eastern Cape.
This will be Molefi Nsteki’s first game in charge and will be an opportunity to prepare the squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers where they will begin with a trip to Ghana next month.
“The game against Mali is an important game and it is our only preparation game before the qualifiers next month.
“While it is a friendly, it is a crucial week for us and we can hopefully pick up where we left off in the Afcon (finals in Egypt this year) because we certainly don’t want to start again. I think in our previous qualifiers we saw how important it is to get off to a good start.
“The win against Nigeria really set the tone for the rest of the group,” Furman said.