BAFANA Bafana players will get the final opportunity to impress coach Carlos Alberto Parreira when the national soccer team squares off against Botswana at King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium tonight in the last friendly international ahead of this month's African Nations Cup in Ghana.
Bafana goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez - who is expected to retain the No1 jersey in Ghana - said while the players were determined to convince Parreira that they were up to the job, the fear of injury days before the start of the continental competition was prevalent.
"We all want to do well against Botswana and we will give our all in this game," Fernandez said.
"But the risk of injury at this late stage is always there and I suppose it will be on the back of our minds."
The players will be mindful of the heart-breaking late withdrawal of Mamelodi Sundowns defender Vuyo Mere, who injured his ankle during training at his club in preparation for a domestic premiership game last month.
Mere had made Parreira's final squad and was looking forward to impressing in Ghana. He was left heartbroken when he was withdrawn a week ago and his place was taken by Bloemfontein Celtic's Tumelo Nhlapo.
Fernandez said the importance of doing well against Botswana could not be underlined enough as Bafana needed to travel to Ghana with confidence on a high.
"It is absolutely crucial that we do well in this game because we need victory as a confidence- booster. So the result is very important even though this is a friendly. It has been a tough week of preparations and we need to wrap it up with a good performance."
Fernandez said Nations Cup fever was starting to build up in the camp and the players were becoming increasingly excited as Bafana's opening match against Angola on January 23 approached. "Every day it is African Nations Cup this and African Nations Cup that. There are some players here in camp who are just itching to get on that plane and go to Ghana right now. They are that excited."
Parreira will hope that his charges put up a more creditable performance after labouring to a 2-0 win over Mozambique at the weekend.
Even the Brazilian admitted his team did not look the part, and could have imposed a sterner punishment on their neighbours had they displayed greater urgency in front of the goal.
SA and Botswana are certainly no strangers to each other on the soccer field as the two nations have engaged in several encounters in the past. Their most recent was last September, when Bafana hosted Botswana in the semifinals of the Cosafa Cup at Super Stadium in Atteridgeville.
The hero of that showdown was Wits goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, who captained the Bafana squad of exclusively locally based players.
Such were the Cape Town-born goalkeeper's heroics that he was reportedly applauded by Botswana coach Colwyn Rowe, after his saves enabled the national team to sneak into the final through a slim 1-0 victory.
It remains to be seen if Parreira will give Josephs game time tonight against the visitors.
No comments:
Post a Comment