The reality of Bafana Bafana’s shaky chances of playing in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola has sunk into the battered and bruised squad that returned from Freetown after being beaten 1-0 by Sierra Leone in an upset Group Four qualifier last this Saturday.
Bafana get the chance to redeem themselves when they host Sierra Leone in the return clash at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday.
At the halfway mark of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, Bafana’s hopes of reaching the continental showpiece look bleak.
The players know this and they know they are responsible.
Said Sweden-based midfielder, Lance Davids: ”We are professional players. We got ourselves here and will get ourselves out if it.”
The way things stand at this stage, Bafana are not in the frame to win a place in the next qualifying round. The sides finishing top of the 12 groups go through to the last qualifying phase, along with the eight best runners-up, to form five new qualifying groups.
Bafana, with a meagre three points from three Group Four matches, have the least points of any other second-placed team in the other groups. That means on this form, Bafana could miss Angola. However, if they win their remaining three matches they are virtually guaranteed a place in the next qualifying phase.
Davids admitted the players were down after Saturday’s shock 1-0 defeat by lowly ranked Sierra Leone.
”The morale took a dip after Saturday. But that is to be expected. Nobody likes losing. We are upset and need to make amends. We know that to ensure we go forward in the qualifying campaign we have to win our remaining three matches, and that is what we aim to do.”
Davids played in the 2-0 loss to group leaders Nigeria in Abuja in the opening clash. Bafana then bounced back when they hammered Equatorial Guinea 4-1 at the Super Stadium less than two weeks ago, but last Saturday’s defeat against a side ranked 163rd in the world is not sitting well.
Davids said Bafana would bounce back when they host the Leone Stars on Saturday. Davids, who is hoping to regain his place in the staring line-up, said: ”We scored four goals against Equatorial Guinea, so we have proved we can score goals. We missed countless chances against Sierra Leone in Freetown. But we like playing at the Super Stadium, and with the pressure on us, will rise to the occasion and get goals and three points.”
Davids came on as a second-half substitute against Equatorial Guinea, but was not given a run against Sierra Leone.
The Djurgardens star is determined to show character and fight back during training this week.
Bafana left back, Tsepo Masilela, has been fighting a bout of flu during the past two weeks but is also raring to go. He has played in all three qualifiers. The Israel-based defender admitted it was tough losing to Sierra Leone, but like Davids vowed to fight back.
The Maccabi Haifa defender said: ”It was difficult. Sierra Leone are not a bad side. We know this is a big game for us. We also know it is win-at-all-costs for us. We have the ability to bounce back. We all know what is expected of us and know the fans expect nothing less than three points.”
On the 1-0 defeat against the Leone Stars, Masilela said: ”You win some and lose some. We had more chances and should have won. Things did not run for us and that is the cruelty of soccer sometimes.” — Sapa