/ 12 January 2012

Bafana’s got young talent, says Majoro

Bafana Bafana’s young players gave their all to draw 1-1 in their practice soccer match with Zambia, Kaizer Chiefs’ striker Lehlohonolo Majoro said on Thursday.

“It shows we have talent because there are a lot of new faces in the team,” he said.

Bafana rallied after being a goal down to achieve the draw at the Rand Stadium on Wednesday night.

Zambia had come with a full squad and had viewed a win against Bafana as important to boost their confidence, but found they could not do it even against Bafana’s second-string side, said Majoro.

“South Africa have a lot of new guys that are getting an opportunity to play. They gave everything,” said Granwald Scott, who did not play because of a minor knee injury.

“They showed courage and heart, and the passion was there as we fought to get the draw after we went down early in the first half … Overall, it was a good performance and a 1-1 draw was a good result.”

Despite being 27 places behind South Africa in the rankings on 77 points, Zambia was the first team to qualify for the African Nations Cup and would have hoped for a more positive result ahead of the tournament.

Majoro said the Bafana side did not need any motivation playing against its lower ranked opponents.

“Being here, to represent our country on its own is a motivation. So you don’t really need motivation when you’re playing against a lower ranked country,” he said.

“For me, it [the opposition] doesn’t really matter. Being here, being called to play is an honour. When I’m called on in the match, I need to showcase it on the field of play.” — Sapa