Shakes backs Bafana to down Gambia

Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba is confident that Bafana Bafana will produce a desirable result when they face Gambia in their first leg encounter of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier clash at Moses Mabhida Stadium next week Saturday, following a disappointing return in the Cosafa Cup just recently.

Bafana are in Group M and will also face Mauritius and Cameroon in a bid to secure their place in the biennial continental showpiece which will take place in Gabon.

Mashaba has assembled a 27-man squad and believes they’ll do the job against the Gambian side on home turf. The national side will then host Angola on June 16 in an International friendly in Cape Town Stadium, three days after their qualifier clash against the Scorpions.

“I don’t think we should measure this (the Afcon qualifiers) to the level of the Cosafa tournament we participated in recently,” he said. “This is a different level altogether. Players exert themselves depending on the level of a tournament they are participating in. I believe we are going to get a better performance from this squad in the qualifiers unlike what we did in the Cosafa tournament. There’s going to be a big improvement, that’s for sure,” he added.

“Let me explain why we decided to call up 27 players. All leagues are in recess now and the body switches off having not played for such a long time. But we trust and believe that our players are keeping fit and they are not just sitting around waiting for the season to resume.”

Bafana went through the 2015 Afcon qualifiers unbeaten, though their performance in the actual tournament was disappointing, Mashaba said he hopes they can pick up from where they left off.

“I say this with great confidence when I say I believe the team performed very well in that tournament (Afcon 2015). It was most unfortunate that we didn’t go all the way to win the cup but the boys performed very well. Looking at the upcoming qualifiers we want to improve our level of performance. But to make things clear we might start on a low key because everybody has been on holiday. But we are going to fight for a win (come next week Saturday).”

He continued: “I’ve heard people saying that this is going to be an easy route for us, given the opposition we’ll have to play. We cannot afford to underestimate them, though. They are planning as well and so it’s not going to be a walk in the park for us, most especially in our away games.

“In modern football there’s no more home advantage. If you look at teams across the globe you would realise teams get beaten on their home turf. And we are saying that we need to give our best each game we participate in, be it on home turf or playing away.”

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Jackson Mabokgwane, Itumeleng Khune, Brilliant Khuzwayo

Defenders: Anele Ngcongca, Patrick Phungwayo, Thabo Matlaba, Siyabonga Nhlapho, Tefu Mas-hamaite, Clayton Daniels, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Rivaldo Coetzee, Marc van Heerden

Midfielders: Andile Jali, Dean Furman, Oupa Manyisa, Bongani Zungu, May Mahlangu, Thulani Serero, Ayanda Patosi, Thuso Phala, Mandla Masango, Mzikayise Mashaba

Strikers: Bonginkosi Ntuli, Sibusiso Vilakazi, Vuyisile Wana, Tokelo Rantie, Gift Motupa - The Star