Bafana Bafana are on the verge of qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco following their unbeaten start in their first three group matches. Two wins and a draw has put them in a great position to wrap up Group A with a win over Congo here at the Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow. Caf uses a head-to-head rule for the qualifiers if teams are tied on points at the end of the qualifiers.
We look at five reasons for Bafana’s change in fortunes under coach Shakes Mashaba.
1 Defensive Organisation
Three clean sheets show that Bafana are keeping their shape and the players understand what the coach wants from them on the field. If somebody is being dragged out of position, there is always a player getting back to cover. Everybody is working hard in the system and trust their teammates to execute their roles properly. Captain Senzo Meyiwa has also been sensational in goal.
2 Explosive Bench
Suddenly the national team seems to possess a plethora of attacking talent. The Bafana substitutes made a massive impact in all three qualifiers, as they have injected pace, urgency and goals, or came on to close out the match. A good bench makes a huge difference in difficult conditions.
3 Central midfield partnership
Dean Furman and Andile Jali have become the heartbeat of this Bafana side, and they get the other parts of the national team’s body to function properly.
Their anticipation makes it easy for them to shut down attacks, while they have been playing a key part in Bafana’s improved transitional and counter-attacking play.
4 New attitude
In the past, a lot of Bafana teams have crumbled under the pressure when things get tough in a foreign country. This Bafana team, though, seems to be enjoying the challenge of playing on the continent. Their best performances have come on the road, with the team scoring five goals in two outings away against Sudan and Congo.
5 Creating chances
Bafana are playing with plenty of pace and intent going forward, and sometimes they attack with five players – one on the ball, the two wingers and the two strikers – in the final third of the pitch. They still lack a bit of accuracy, but at least are getting people into the penalty area to try and get the ball into the back of the net. – The Star