Johannesburg – Dean Furman believes Bafana Bafana can take plenty of positives after emerging with a creditable 1-1 draw from their international friendly against Morocco on Friday night in Agadir.
South Africa took on a strong-looking Atlas Lions side, with three players from La Liga in Spain, and another three from Serie A in Italy in Rachid Taoussi’s starting line-up.
But it was Gordon Igesund’s men who were by far the better side in the first half, silencing the home crowd at Agadir New Stadium, with some sensationally slick passing football.
Daylon Claasen was a revelation on the right side of midfield, and with Tokelo Rantie’s pace clearly a problem for the Morocco defence, the two combined in the ninth minute to give Bafana the lead, Rantie running onto Claasen’s pass to slide his shot past Augsburg goalkeeper Mohamed Amsif.
Debutant Sibusiso Vilakazi could have added a second with a glorious chance before the break, and if Morocco came back well to equalise just after half-time, through Levante defender Issam El Adoua, Bafana could be satisfied with a decent night’s work.
Igesund took his chance to blood plenty of youngsters, with the important task of qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco coming up next year. As well as Vilakazi, Ayanda Patosi and Kgosi Ntlhe also made first appearances for Bafana on Friday, while Siyanda Xulu earned just his second cap in the centre of defence.
“It was tough, they have got good players in the top leagues in Europe, but I think we had a good mixture of some more experienced players and young lads coming through,” said Furman, just before setting off for England and his Championship side Doncaster Rovers.
“It was a vital time for the boys to show promise, it was great that a few got a run, and the future looks bright.”
Furman was also impressed by Bafana’s first half display.
“We had some lovely passages of play and it just shows that we can get the ball down and play our way against these teams,” he said. “The shape was good; we had a limited time to work – only two days training, but we played some lovely stuff and deserved to go 1-0 up. It could have been more.”
Furman was impressed by his new central midfield partner, Bidvest Wits captain Sibusiso Vilakazi.
“He was comfortable and composed, he worked hard and was unlucky not to get a goal on debut,” said the 25-year-old.
“I thought Daylon (Claasen) was outstanding, and a threat every time he got the ball, he ran at defenders and was positive,” added Furman. “(Ayanda) Patosi and Kgosi (Ntlhe) coming on as well had good debuts.”
And then there was Rantie, the man who plays in the same league in England as Furman and Bongani Khumalo.
“I see him in the Championship every week and he is causing problems, He often does a lot of work and doesn’t get goals. He got the goal (against Morocco) and deserves it for the hard work he puts in.”
Furman believes this result can also help Bafana now firmly put their World Cup 2014 disappointment behind them and turn their attention to qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. “We have to let it go now, what is done is done. We are obviously very disappointed but there is nothing we can do about it now. We have to focus on the Afcon,” he said.
The Star