Bafana Bafana find themselves having to win the game against Burkina Faso on Saturday in order to keep their destiny in their own hands for the qualifiers of both the African Cup of Nations and World Cup in 2006.
All the teams in group two have three points and this weekend’s game against the Burkinabe presents Bafana Bafana with a good chance to pull away from the five other countries. National coach Stuart ‘Dr Who†Baxter will be hoping that the game ends on a positive note after the humiliating 3-0 loss to Ghana.
Victory in Saturday’s match would allow South Africa to go into the break after this spate of qualifying games leading the group.
If they fail Bafana Bafana risk to win difficult away games and depend on other results going their way. Baxter should be aiming to win all the home games as the away games will be very difficult, as proven by the beating of Ghana a few weeks ago.
The South Africans should be wary of complacency and previous records against their opponents — as was proven by Ghana, whom Bafana Bafana had managed to defeat three times and draw twice in their five previous meetings.
The game against Burkina Faso will be South Africa’s fourth game against these opponents after having beaten them once and drawn twice.
There is currently no need for all this hysteria that the South African national team will not qualify for the World Cup or the Nations Cup. Cool heads are needed as there are still seven more games to be played and 21 points to be won.
It will only be after five games played by Bafana Bafana that the team and coach can be judged on whether they can still qualify for these two tournaments. The Bafana Bafana supporters should not be pressing panic buttons.
Baxter will need to get a group of people he can trust around him with local knowledge so they can advise him on certain local players and in which position they need to be fielded. At the same time he needs to do a lot more research into conditions in other African countries so as to prepare well instead of the ‘in and out attitude†that failed so miserably in Ghana. The coach may need to review his technical team.
Against Burkina Faso, Bafana Bafana will welcome back their prodigal son, Benni McCarthy, who was the leading goalscorer in the Portuguese league while playing for FC Porto last season. The South African also scored four goals to propel his side to the European Champions League final, which they won.
McCarthy will try and solve some of the scoring problems South Africa has experienced up front. He will be partnered by Shaun Bartlett, who also missed the loss in Ghana due to his child being sick.
At the back, Hans Vonk returns to keep out the goals, with Mbulelo Mabizela set to take up the position vacated by Mark Fish. Aaron Mokoena — captain for this game as Mabizela has been demoted for being late for practice — Nasief Morris and Jacob Lekgetho complete the back four.
Midfield options include Steven Pienaar and Benedict Vilakazi being in the heart of the midfield, with Delron Buckley and Siyabonga Nomvete down the flanks.
With the war cries being signaled by some of the national team players there seems to be a glimmer of hope that South Africa can pull off a win over Burkina Faso.
The national team’s next qualifying game is in September against Congo Kinshasa.