Furman: Mali the right game for Bafana

Jonty Mark

Dean Furman (above) believes Mali, Bafana Bafana’s opponents in tomorrow’s Nelson Mandela Challenge, will provide perfect opposition for South Africa’s as they build up to their opening 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana next month.

The friendly, to be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, is Bafana’s only warm-up match before they travel to face the Black Stars in a match scheduled for November 11. Bafana are set to host Sudan in their second qualifier on November 19.

“In the bigger picture, in terms of the Afcon qualifiers, they (Mali) are the perfect team,” said Furman this week.

“They are West African and are physical, similar to Ghana. In terms of our preparations for a hugely important qualifier, they are a good team for us to face.”

Mali performed fairly well at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, beating Angola and Mauritania en route to the last 16, where they were only narrowly edged out by the Ivory Coast.

“They are a good side, we watched them at the Afcon,” added Furman.

“They keep the ball well, they are strong, tall, and physical and good from set-pieces. West African teams are generally strong at set-pieces, they attack the ball well.”

Though getting off to a winning start in the Afcon qualifiers is obviously far more important than the Nelson Mandela Challenge, this is still a prestigious game tomorrow, and Molefi Ntseki’s first as Bafana head coach, after games against Zambia and Madagascar were called off last month following the outbreaks of xenophobic violence in South Africa.

“Winning breeds confidence and every time you pull on the national shirt you want to win, for yourself and the country,” said Furman.