The Bafana Bafana contingent returned to Bremen on Sunday for what is being termed ”the battle of the losers” after the demoralising and devastating 3-1 World Cup qualifying defeat against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on Saturday.
And the sombre mood in the camp contrasted markedly to that when the Bafana squad arrived in Bremen last week for an initial training camp, with expectations of qualifying for next year’s World Cup still at a reasonably high level.
”But we have a job to do,” said Bafana general manager Stanley Tshabalala referring to the friendly international against 2006 World Cup hosts Germany in Bremen on Wednesday, ”and, like it or not, we need to put the memories of the Burkina Faso nightmare behind us right now”.
Nightmare it might have been for Bafana and South Africa, but German soccer is not exactly in a euphoric mood either right now, after suffering a stunning 2-0 defeat against Slovakia in Bratislava on Saturday.
Associated Press reports that Jurgen Klinsmann’s team produced its second straight poor game after a fortunate 2-2 draw in The Netherlands last month.
Miroslav Karhan scored two first-half goals to steer Slovakia to their emphatic victory, converting a penalty in the 20th minute and adding a second in the 38th minute against what was described ”a German team with a leaky defence and a harmless attack”.
Police also detained several unruly German fans after the game to complete a day of embarrassment for the three-time former World Cup winners.
All this might provide a grain of encouragement for Bafana prior to Wednesday’s game and Tshabalala revealed that players who had not participated in the World Cup debacle against Burkina Faso had immediately gone out for a training session after arriving in Bremen.
All the Bafana players who were in Ouagadougou apart from Siyabonga Nomvete are in Germany with the Bafana squad.
”Nomvete signed a contract with Swedish champions Djuegardens last week,” explained the Bafana general manager, ”and he is required to make an appearance at his new club as part of the agreement we had with them”. – Sapa