Mozambique Mambas are looking to strike twice
CAPTAIN Edmilson Dove says the Mozambique national team fancy doing the double over neighbours Bafana Bafana, even though that won’t be easy.
In July, Bafana and The Mambas met in the Cosafa Cup semi-finals where the latter prevailed on penalties as they went on to win the tournament.
The two sides are set to renew their rivalry on Thursday night when they lock horns at Mbombela Stadium in a friendly match.
Unlike last time, when they fielded a makeshift team that was coached by assistant Helman Mkhalele, Bafana have called on their best players this time.
Mozambique, on the other hand, have a similar composition of players to the one that won the southern African regional tournament back in July.
“The games are different so you can’t always dwell on what you have done in the past. This will be a very different game,” Dove explained.
“Cosafa is made up of players playing in the Southern African leagues. That’s why this will be a different game as it will require a lot from both teams.
“I am hoping that it will be a good game of football on the day.
But of course, I am hoping that Mozambique will do enough to win in the end though.”
After their clash against The Mambas, Bafana will host Angola in a second friendly on Sunday as part of their preparations for the Afcon qualifiers.
Bafana will face Liberia in backto-back qualifiers in March, knowing that six points will guarantee passage to the 2023 finals.
In his selection for the friendlies, Hugo decided to leave Dove’s Kaizer Chiefs teammate Yusuf Maart out, saying that he hasn’t been good enough recently.
And that came as a shock given that Maart had a dream Soweto
Derby debut, topping it off with a beautiful winning goal.
Dove is also bemused by Maart’s omission from the Bafana squad.
“I don’t want to talk about the Bafana squad because I feel like whoever made the selection knows what he’s doing,” the 28-year-old explained.
“But of course, Yusuf Maart is an important player for us. As you know, he’s been playing regularly and he’s been doing very well for the team.
“We would want him to be on the field on the day like any other player from our team. But I think that will be good for us (Mozambique).”*