There are at least two major reasons why this weekend’s jaunt to Freetown to face the Leone Stars is the toughest challenge facing Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane to date.
Not to discount Bafana’s efforts in the previous round, but it can hardly be said that Niger is a footballing powerhouse with their lowly ranking at 154 on the world stage. In fact it was only Bafana’s hesitation in front of goal that has momentarily suspended the bestowing of the “group whipping boys” label on Niger, a state of affairs that will surely change when the West African minnows battle it out with the Pharaohs of Egypt.
And this brings me to the first of the looming challenges: the same tactically superior Egyptian national team was held to a 1-1 draw by the Leone Stars in September.
On paper the Leone Stars, who are ranked 132 in the world and 35 continentally, should be shivering at the prospect of playing Bafana. Considered by many as an astute student of the game, Mosimane hinted at the problem earlier in the week when he urged his players not to make any excuses about playing conditions and just produce the goods on Sunday.
Freetown is renowned for horrid playing conditions and the last time Bafana were there in 2008 they lost 1-0 to a fairly pedestrian Sierra Leone. The problem then, as Sundowns mid-fielder Surprise Moriri reminded us this week, was the inability to convert chances in front of goal.
But the conditions are only part of the problem and to underestimate the Stars would, as Mosimane also acknowledged, be a fatal error. After revealing that he had viewed some grainy footage of the Leone Stars in action, Mosimane seemed to take the challenge in his stride, masking any lurking anxiety with bravado.
It was hardly comforting to anyone who knows Bafana’s record away from vuvuzela-wielding crowds here at home. Let us hope, as a report on the SuperSport website suggests, that Stars coach Christian Cole will have his hands full trying to please the home fans who are not happy with his team selection.
The fans are reportedly livid with Cole after he omitted China-based striker and former Inter Milan and AS Monaco player Mohamed Kallon from his youthful side and it has been suggested that all is not well with the Stars, with their federation president administering the team by “remote control”.
But the game, as Mosimane no doubt knows, will ultimately be won on the pitch, which brings us to the next challenge, which is the not-so-small matter of a missing world-class player who goes by the name of Steven Pienaar. Mosimane opted not to replace the Everton midfielder after he was ruled out by injury. He indicated that he has some ideas about a possible replacement but kept his cards very close to his chest. But no obvious replacement looms large.
Pienaar, who has been a pivotal player in the Bafana set-up, notching the best player awards in the country’s last two outings, keeps the team ticking over and is a natural leader. He will surely be missed not only for his creative abilities but also for his tenacious nature, an attribute that will be needed in what will be a physical encounter.
Mosimane has indicated that he will look to other senior players such as Macbeth Sibaya and captain Aaron Mokoena to carry the team through on the day. Sibaya’s physical presence will no doubt come in handy as he demonstrated last week against Barcelona for his championship-winning Russian side Rubin Kazan.
Mosimane also wondered out loud whether in-form player Siphiwe Tshabalala could possibly fill the void left by Pienaar, who during the Fifa World Cup recently could be seen conducting the players with animated hand signals.
Mosimane also kept under wraps whether he would play out-of-favour Orlando Pirates midfielder Teko Modise after vehemently defending him earlier in the week.
Modise has been out of form for a long time but Lady Luck has been on his side as he has managed to avoid the chop. He did not participate in his team’s MTN 8 final victory over Swallows and Mosimane insisted that he would not turn his back on the player who some have suggested has passed his peak.
Bafana go into the game on top of the group after beating Niger and will have to fight hard to retain their position at the top, with Cole indicating that he is hoping to use a win against Bafana to catapult his team into the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
The Freetown humdinger could prove critical to any ambitions Bafana have of making it to the championship, which they won in 1996, but to do so they will also have to get past Egypt. For now, getting past the Leone Stars is paramount.