Gabon have not lost at home for 28 years,
so Bafana Bafana face an uphill battle at the Omar Bongo stadium, writes Andrew Muchineripi
South Africa enter hillier terrain on Saturday after a relatively flat passage through the first half of their qualifying programme for the 2000 African Nations Cup.
Gabon may, ultimately, have been outclassed at Odi Stadium, that shrine to bizarre architecture, two months ago, but the Central Africans promise to provide much stiffer opposition at home.
While accepting that statistics do not win matches, dare anyone ignore the fact that the Gabonese have not lost an African Nations Cup qualifier in Libreville for 28 years.
This 19-match unbeaten run is a record even the giants of Africa like Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria would be proud of because it demonstrates remarkable consistency.
Bafana Bafana can lose at a national stadium named after Omar Bongo, long- serving leader of the relatively wealthy oil-rich state, and still make it to Ghana or Nigeria next January.
Gabon cannot afford such a luxury. It is win or bust for the Azingo National (an Azingo is a ship that ferries people and goods along the Gabonese coast) as they attempt to atone for a shock failure to make the previous finals. Needing a victory at home to Namibia in their final group game to seal a ticket to Burkina Faso, the Gabonese conceded a second-half equaliser and joined the also-rans watching the action from television sets.
That result should offer encouragement to coach Trott Moloto, his technical staff and the 18 players led by Leeds United defender Lucas Radebe ahead of the Group Four showdown.
South Africa enjoyed an incident-free build-up save for the unwarranted criticism of Moloto in some media circles after he agreed to release goalkeeper Hans Vonk and striker Philemon Masinga.
Vonk and Masinga face vital matches this weekend for their clubs in Holland and Italy respectively and Moloto wisely opted out of a win-the-battle-lose-the war situation.
To suggest, as one writer who is certainly old enough to know better, that this decision could cost Moloto his job is the sort of comment that serves only to heighten the bad reputation of the soccer media.
Moloto will lose his position only if Bafana Bafana fail to reach the 2000 African Nations Cup, and even if the team lose in Gabon, victories at home to Mauritius and away to Angola during June will ensure qualification.
The coach has grown increasingly sensitive about media coverage, and while the position of this humble member of the Muchineripi clan on sycophants is well documented, perhaps a little more reason would do no harm.
Rather than place unnecessary and (in at least one case) imaginary pressure on Moloto, print space could be more intelligently devoted to speculating on the likely composition of the South African starting line-up.
Brian Baloyi is set for a recall in place of Vonk and Radebe, Mark Fish and Pierre Issa are assured of places at the back, where Moloto must be tempted to use an additional defender, meaning Aaron Mokoena or Michael Manzini.
Should Manzini earn his first cap it would complete a fairytale rise to fame as he made his senior club debut only at the start of the 1998/99 Premier Soccer League season with Sundowns.
While the introduction of Joel Masilela for an injured “Lovers” Mohlala created a midfield mix of Masilela, Thabo Mngomeni, John Moeti, Quinton Fortune and Helman Mkhalele that overran Gabon, it may not work in Libreville.
Moloto says he has learned from the mistakes of Mauritius (where a seemingly easy assignment ended in a 1-1 draw), and one lesson is not to pack midfield with offensive players.
Masilela is not a wingback because he cannot defend, Mngomeni much prefers running with the ball than after it, and Mkhalele loves going forward as much as he hates going back.
That leaves Moeti and Fortune to do the defensive side of the job and two ball winners will not suffice in Gabon, where even ultra-optimist Moloto concedes that Bafana Bafana are going to spend considerable time on the back foot.
Most media members assume the absence of Masinga means a return for Benni McCarthy, but do not exclude in-form Pollen Ndlanya, who scored another two goals for Kaizer Chiefs at the weekend.
McCarthy and Shaun Bartlett are peas from the same pod, strikers who love nothing better than chasing passes played behind defenders into space, and Moloto has favoured using one at a time with Masinga in a “holding” role.
A striker who can hold the ball with his back to goal, often when outnumbered, is particularly relevant in away matches and this could give Ndlanya the edge with McCarthy kept in reserve should an emergency arise.