Lesotho friendly a test run

National team boss to treat Lesotho friendly on Sunday as a test-run

BAFANA Bafana coach Gordon Igesund will show his hand with the national team’s starting line-up in the friendly against Lesotho.

BAFANA Bafana coach Gordon Igesund will show his hand with the national team’s starting line-up in the international friendly against Lesotho, taking place on Sunday.

But the coach is not worried about that, as he is treating this weekend’s game as a test-run for new combinations ahead of the vital World Cup qualifiers against Central African Republic (CAR) and Ethiopia next month — which are the bigger picture.

“Lesotho are no pushover, make no mistake about it. But, although we would very much like to win the match, it is purely for combinations,” said Igesund yesterday.

“I don’t think CAR and Ethiopia care much about how our team lines up before we play them. They’ve got their own team to worry about because all these games are a mustwin for all the sides.”

Bafana will have one more training session this morning before heading to Maseru this afternoon.

He admitted his main concern was in defence, but backed whoever he picks to deliver. Igesund had to replace Tsepo Masilela and Siboniso Gaxa with Ricardo Nunes and Siyanda Xulu this week, after injuries forced the duo to withdraw.

“I can’t harp on about injuries, it’s part of the game. And if I complain that I am missing so and so, then what are the players that are here supposed to think?

“Lesotho (ranked 155 by Fifa) is a game we had to play, I don’t know too much about them because I just need to get my team ready.

“In reality, the bigger picture is CAR and Ethiopia. I need to be sure of the combinations I use at the back and that we get confidence going into our game against CAR,” the coach said.

Igesund is looking at finding a suitable partner for Thabo Nthethe in central defence, as that is where Bafana have been most vulnerable.

With Morgan Gould and Siyabonga Sangweni ruled out fol- lowing injuries, Tefu Mashamaite, Eric Mathoho, Bevan Fransman or Xulu could be paired with Nthethe.

“Certain players have never played together at all, but combinations were not bad in today’s training. Of course we want to play well but I need to be sure of combinations at the back and all five guys can play at the back.

“The whole session today was for the defenders to see how they move and shuffle.”

While Igesund was facing a conundrum in his defence, with a number of players unavailable due to injuries, he was confident his strike force would do the job at the other end of the field.

“We haven’t scored a lot of goals in the Premiership, but it’s about the way you play and create chances,” he said. “I don’t think we will have a problem and I hope the ball bounces for us.”

Igesund will not read too much into the result against Lesotho, especially if the game has a negative outcome. “It is not a win-at-all-costs game, but we anticipate them to give us a tough match.

“Not so long ago they were ranked ahead of us, but I think we have since improved. I only know one of their strikers, who I believe some South African teams are looking at, but the fact that they held Zambia to a draw in their last qualifier shows the gap between national teams has closed big time,” said Igesund.

Lesotho will also be using the friendly against Bafana at the Setsoto Stadium, with a capacity crowd of 20,000, to prepare for their return leg against Zambia on June 8.

Bafana are second in their group and trail log leaders Ethiopia, who held them to a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg last June, by two points.

SA has also played to a draw against Botswana away and beat CAR 2-0 in Cape Town two months ago. SA will play the CAR in Cameroon, after Fifa agreed to find a neutral venue because of the volatile situation in the CAR, while the match against Ethiopia will be played in Addis Ababa. With Sapa