Serero in tow as Bafana eye top marks
ALTHOUGH he has scant knowledge of Mauritania, Shakes Mashaba believes Bafana Bafana will get maximum points for the first time in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign this weekend.
Bafana fly out to the northwest African country today for their second match in Group L.
Having been held goalless by Gambia in their opening match, the 1996 champions are under pressure to get off the mark at the Olympic Stadium in Nouakchott on Saturday.
Mashaba was confident of his team’s chances of inflicting on Mauritania their second loss of the campaign.
“This is a must-win match for us,” Mashaba said after a training session this week.
“You hear people saying this puts pressure on the team – what pressure? You have pressure in your house when you’re eating dinner. You ask yourself ‘If I don’t finish, the madam will ask where did I eat?’ So you work hard to finish the plate. There’s always pressure in football.”
Mauritania, who narrowly lost their first match 1-0 in Cameroon, are an unknown entity to Bafana.
“We’ve done our homework. We’ve searched, but what we have is their previous records, how they played,” Mashaba said.
“What has made us aware that they are not a team to take lightly is the result they came with from Cameroon – they went there and lost just 1-0.”
That the Indomitable Lions could only score their goal late in the match suggests Mauritania will be hard to beat in their own backyard.
“If you go far back you will find that there are games they’ve lost 7-0 and 3-0. But we don’t want to take that into our minds because it’s going to make us complacent.
“We know they are not going to be an easy side to play. We’ve got to give them the respect that they deserve.”
The coach will fancy his chances of claiming three points on Saturday, with Bafana, according to Mashaba, being more comfortable on the road than at home.
This much they showed when they went unbeaten in away matches to qualify for this year’s tournament – including a draw in Nigeria that could easily have been a win.
“There are no pressures playing away. You know you have to go fight against the odds where the crowd are for the home team. You are all by yourself there, with your kit, managers and everybody.”
The notion of homeground advantage did not hold true for Mashaba.
“Modern trends of football show that teams are doing well away from home. Their best results are when they are away.”
It will take victory on Saturday for most to agree.
Meanwhile, Thulani Serero arrived at Bafana camp and was declared fit to pay by the national side’s medical team.
This after the player’s club, Ajax Amsterdam, had written a letter to Safa saying Serero was injured. They had even sent through a scan.
But he trained with the team yesterday and will fly to Mauritania.
Tsepo Masilela has not reported to camp, and is apparently in the US.
Mauritania have included eight foreign-based players in their 25-man squad to face South Africa.
Senegal-born defender Abdoul Ba, midfielder Diallo Guideleye and Adama Ba all ply their trade in the French second division, and have been called up for duty.
Shot-stopper Souleymane Diallo was left out and was replaced
by Babacar Toure.