Bafana Bafana spent part of Tuesday fine-tuning their free kicks and set pieces ahead of their final World Cup warm-up match during their training camp in Germany.
The team face Jamaica on Wednesday in Offenbach, near Frankfurt, in a match originally scheduled against China, who pulled out due to travelling concerns stemming from the ash cloud over Europe.
“We all know that big games are lost or won on set pieces. So that’s why we’re trying to mix in one or two tomorrow,” said South African midfielder Teko Modise.
Head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said his men have been practising set pieces for a couple days.
“Some times it helps a lot,” he said. “A free kick or set piece can decide a game.
“And we have boys who can score on them, like (Teko) Modise, (Siphiwe) Tshabalala and even (Katlego) Mphela. Also in the Confederations Cup when Mphela scored a very nice goal against Spain.
No changes
“So that’s why we have to concentrate on that more when we go back to Johannesburg.”
Parreira said he will not make any changes to the starting line-up he used for South Africa’s friendly against North Korea last week, which ended in a scoreless draw. But he plans on making three or four changes if needed.
Still, the coach does not think the game will lead to too many changes in his final roster.
“That is not the game that will make the decision. The decisions are more or less done,” said Parreira, who lead Brazil to World Cup victory in 1994.
South Africa faced Jamaica last November in a friendly, playing to a scoreless draw in Bloemfontein.
Even though this squad will not include South Africa’s foreign-based players — who are not at the Bafana Bafana training camp — Parreira expects his team to perform better.
Identity ‘coming’
“We are more prepared this time. We should play better. We are more ready. We believe it will be a different game,” said the veteran coach.
“We are more prepared physically and mentally and the shape is there. The identity is coming.”
Defender Matthew Booth said he hoped Bafana Bafana can rebound from their mediocre showing against North Korea — while also playing better against Jamaica.
“[The Jamaica game in November] was a bit disappointing. So I think the guys want to set the record straight and get a good result, especially after the disappointing result against North Korea,” he said.
“I think we should have wrapped that up easily but we failed to do so,” said Booth, who hopes to get a centre back spot in Parreira’s final squad.
All told, the coach is pleased with the mood of the team.
“I think the mood is good. We know that we have a very tough group. We know we should be well prepared otherwise our chances are absolutely nothing,” Parreira said.
“We should be well prepared physically, tactically and mentally to rise at the right moments. We have to be the surprising team at the World Cup,” said the coach.
The team will leave Germany for South Africa on Thursday, with Parreira giving his players some rest before calling them back into a training camp in Johannesburg on May 4.
South Africa hope to have four more friendly matches before opening the World Cup on June 11 against Mexico, as well as possible games against Bulgaria, Colombia and Denmark, according to Parreira. — AFP