Play through the pain, Mashaba tells Bafana Bafana
BAFANA Bafana must keep their concentration to the end tomorrow to avoid a repeat of an Africa Cup of Nations meeting with Senegal two years ago‚ South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba said.
Bafana Bafana face the Lions of Teranga in Polokwane in a World Cup qualifier tomorrow.
Senegal have brought a highly rated squad for their showdown with Bafana at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Coach Aliou Cisse‚ captain of Senegal’s 2002 World Cup quarterfinalist team‚ has included star forwards Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City)‚ Sadio Mane (Liverpool) and Diao Balde (Lazio).
Both teams know the game could make or break their chances of reaching Russia 2018.
Bafana have played Senegal twice in Mashaba’s latest stint as SA coach.
South Africa beat the Lions 1-0 in the Nelson Mandela Challenge at the Orlando Stadium in September last year.
Earlier last year, Bafana had a 1-0 lead thanks to Oupa Manyisa’s 46th-minute strike in their second match of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea‚ but conceded an equaliser to Kara Mbodji in the 59th minute to draw 1-1.
Mashaba said the South Africans needed to learn from that experience. “We’ve played them twice. “In the group stages match at the Afcon‚ in the first half we were fireworks. We scored first.
“In fact‚ in both games we scored first‚” Mashaba said.
“The only problem is towards the end of the game‚ which is what we’re trying to work on.
“Muhammad Ali was asked: ‘How many sit-ups do you do a day?’ He said: ‘I can’t give you an exact number – I only count when it starts burning.’
“That is why I’m saying that we scored first [last year] but as the game went on we collapsed.
“Which is why we need to start teaching our players that when it starts paining‚ that’s when we’ve got to start working hard.
“That’s where we’ve got to start playing with our mind‚ complementing it with the heart. And with that approach‚ I think we would have been somewhere in the Afcon.
“I’ve played Senegal three times since I started coaching Bafana.
“What I like about Senegal is that they never bring a sub-strength team with them. When we played them at Orlando they gave it their all.
“And in that game our boys did show what we’re talking about – they played right to the end of referee’s optional time.
“And that’s what we expect from them in this game.”
Bafana have met Senegal seven times‚ both winning twice‚ with three draws.
The South Africans started with an encouraging 1-1 draw in Burkina Faso in their opening Russia 2018 game.
A win to either team tomorrow could go a long way, eliminating one of the Group D favourites and putting the other in the driving seat.