Bafana woes continue
JOBURG – Bafana Bafana suffer huge media criticism following a 3–1 loss to Mauritania.
Media did not hold back on the Bafana Bafana football side after an unexpected 3–1 loss to Mauritania on 5 September.
The headline ‘EMBARRASING’ featured in one newspaper, joined by many similar criticisms of coach, Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba, and his team. The loss follows a disappointing draw to Gambia in Durban. This leaves Bafana Bafana at the bottom of group M in the 2017 CAF Orange Africa Cup of Nations qualifier with only one point.
The battle is now a mental one, for the demoralised side. Bafana Bafana struggled to find favour with the public under the largely unsuccessful coaching of Gordon Igesund and although current coach, Mashaba, was off to a promising start, South Africans will not be pleased to miss out on qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations. Despite the public outrage, all is not yet lost for South Africans as Bafana Bafana still have four qualifying games to pick up a potential 12 points.
Mashaba credits the loss to a number of factors including a mistake from captain and goalkeeper, Itumeleng Khune, when he misjudged a long-range free kick from Aly Abeide. Debutante, Siyabonga Zulu, also picked up a red card to bring the team down to 10 men. “I have never seen my team played like they did,” media reported Mashaba as saying, “This was not a very impressive performance. Nothing went our way and even the heat did not assist. We managed to hold on after they took the lead, and were even able to equalise but could not hold on. They scored soft goals after the red card and the entire defence was in tatters as players picked up injuries.”
Fans will be called upon to show resilience in their support of upcoming matches, while the Bafana Bafana camp will surely have some preparations to make after hard lessons. The road will get no easier as log-toppers, Cameroon, have yet to be faced.
Following the match result, South Africa sits at 72 in the world rankings and at 17 in Africa. Mauritania is ranked 114 in the world and 33 in Africa.
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