Though Shakes Mashaba was cock-a-hoop ahead of tomorrow’s 2018 World Cup preliminary draw in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Bafana Bafana could face a potential banana skin should the draw not be kind to them.
By virtue of being ranked 16th, South Africa will get a bye for the first round of the qualifiers which will see Africa’s 26 bottom-ranked sides squaring up in a two-legged knockout ties between October 5-13.
Thereafter the 13 countries will advance to the second round where the other 27 countries await. The top ranked 20 sides will be pitted against the bottom 20 to play-off for spots in the group stages and it is here that Mashaba and all of South Africa will be crossing fingers that they get one of the weaker countries.
A draw against Benin, Mozambique or Libya would probably be most welcome than a tie against Angola or Togo.
But the potential of a draw from hell exists in the form of north African giants Morocco who will be among those in the bottom 20. The Atlas Lions, boasting a squad that has numerous stars who ply their trade in Europe will provide stiff opposition for Bafana.
Captain Mehdi Ben Atia plays for Bayern Munich and will have little problem snuffing out attacks from the likes of Tokelo Rantie and Bongani Ndulula. And there can be no denying that a twin strike force boasting Crystal Palace’s Marouane Chamakh and Youssef El Arabi who scored a lot of goals for Grenada in la Liga last season has the potential of dismantling the Bafana rearguard.
Bafana will, however, hope history comes into play should they get drawn against north Africans. South Africa have never lost a competitive match against Morooco, Bafana beating the Atlas Lions twice at the Africa Cup of Nations finals – 2-1 in the 1998 quarter-finals and in the final group match
With his squad teeming with unsettled players like Itumeleng Khune and Dean Furman as well as Mandla Masango, Mashaba will hope these key players sort their issues out before the qualifiers.
HOW THE AFRICA DRAW WORKS
First round(two legs between Oct 5-13, 2015)
Seeded: Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, Swaziland
Unseeded: Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Sao Tome e Principe, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti
Disqualified: Zimbabwe (failing to pay a former coach)
l 13 overall winners advance to:
Second round(two legs between Nov 9-17)
Seeded: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cape Verde, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda
Unseeded: Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Libya and 13 first-round winners
l 20 second-round winners will be split into five four-team groups in a separate draw with the winners qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. - The Star