Tears of joy for SA skipper

“I CRIED a tear of joy when I was told I would be captain,” Jackson Mabokgwane said.

The Bafana Bafana goalkeeper will always cherish the moment.

The Mpumalanga Black Aces man has been captain before, in the Cosafa Cup earlier this year, but this was much bigger than that.

This was a first leg, round two, Fifa World Cup qualifier against Angola and Bafana did well to win 3-1 at Ombaka National Stadium on Friday afternoon.

“I felt it was an opportunity for me to write my own history. Growing up I watched the likes of Andre Arendse writing his own history by winning the Afcon (Africa Cup of Nations).

“We have had a lot of other goalkeepers, like Senzo Meyiwa, who helped the team to qualify for Afcon. So this is an opportunity for me as a leader to help the team qualify.”

It looked like Mabokgwane and his teammates would have a disastrous day when Angola scored the opener after just 90 seconds. But Bafana bounced back with two goals in six minutes and a third late in the game to take a healthy 3-1 lead into the second leg at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday.

“This was an opportunity for me to really introduce myself and I thought I did that. Going forward, I will definitely make sure that I stamp my authority and make sure that I keep clean sheets.”

The 27-year-old added: “I think we played very well, considering that we conceded a goal very early.”

Angola were only let down by their decision-making in the final third of the pitch, but showed how dangerous they could be when they went on the counterattack to score their only goal.

“They like to play on the break. They are very skilful so we really need to guard against them getting into our half,” Mabokgwane said.

The man who scored the goal for Angola, Jacinta Dala, is someone Mabokgwane and his defenders should keep a close eye on. Not only did he score the goal which gives them a glimmer of hope, but he was full of running and made some good runs into the South African box.

Mabokgwane will probably have to come off his line quite a bit on Tuesday to deal with the crosses of Natael Masuekama, another dangerman in the Angolan team.

The flying fullback spent the majority of the first leg in the opposition half, trying to get his side back into the game with darting runs and crosses which were often dealt with by Bafana’s lanky defender, Mulomowandau Mathoho.

He plays on the left side and Bafana’s Anele Ngcongcga will need to use his experience to ensure the Libolo Recreativo player does not inspire a comeback for Angola.

Angolan coach Romeu Filemon is under pressure to win. Talk in Angola is that he will lose his job if Angola do not reach the group stages.

World Cup participants in 2006, Angola will have to defend better and be more decisive in the final third if they are to pull off a comeback.