Ntseki sticks to tried and tested
AFCON QUALIFIER: ONLY ESSENTIAL CHANGES WERE MADE
Molefi Ntseki understandably stuck to his tried and trusted yesterday, as he named a 25man Bafana Bafana squad for the November 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan.
South Africa will play the Black Stars in Accra on November 14, and Sudan at Orlando Stadium on November 17, leaving little time for work on the training ground.
All the players who took part in last month’s Nelson Mandela Challenge againtst Mali – Bafana’s only friendly ahead of the qualifiers – have been called up, except for Keagan Dolly and Tshepo Rikhotso, both of whom are injured.
Thamsanqa Mkhize, who missed the Mali game with injury, is back in the squad, as is Bidvest
Wits left back Sifiso Hlanti, while SuperSport United’s Aubrey Modiba comes in for Dolly.
Ntseki said: “We will leave on November 10 to go to Ghana and will only have two [full] training sessions, then when we come back we only have one session and then we play Sudan.
“So we decided to keep 99% of the team that played Mali – that game was good preparation.”
Bafana’s overseas-based players will join up with the squad in Ghana, to minimise travel time.
In June South Africa played Ghana to a goalless draw in a friendly ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
“We played them in Dubai and there has not been much change in personnel.
“[Kwesi] Appiah, if he stays [as head coach], we will analyse how he does things … we are still getting more clips so we can go to the match with confidence.”
When challenged on exactly how far his ambition goes with Bafana, Ntseki said he wants to “win the World Cup”.
“You will have achieved so much as a coach if you have left a big mark coaching Bafana.
“It is also about bringing players through and playing a winning brand of football.”