The South African national football squad finally arrived in Costa Rica yesterday after their initial travel plans were scuppered by a visa bungle.
Scheduled to leave on Sunday night, for friendly matches against Costa Rica and Honduras, Bafana Bafana never had the necessary transit visas to get to Central America via the United States. A hasty change of plans was needed and Bafana then only left on Monday morning, this time travelling via Sao Paolo, Brazil. Safa is adamant the blame for the fiasco lies squarely with their hosts, who were responsible for arranging the travel plans.
With the off-field problems sorted, Bafana are now preparing to take on Costa Rica at the Baltodano Bricenio Stadium in Liberia tomorrow (kickoff 4am SA time on Friday morning).
The next friendly, against Honduras, will be played at the Metropolitano Stadium in San Pedro Sula next Tuesday (midnight, SA time).
Mpho Makola, Thamsanqa Gabuza and Thabo Matlaba, fresh from helping Orlando Pirates qualify for the CAF Confederations Cup final, are expected to jet off to Costa Rica today to link up with the Bafana squad. Pirates only arrived back from Egypt yesterday.
The friendlies against Central American opposition are seen as an opportunity for Bafana to pit their skill and ability against teams with a style they aren’t all that accustomed to. The conditions will also be very different for the South Africans.
As such, a lot of the responsibility for calm and composure will fall on the shoulders of the squad’s overseas-based contingent. These players are regularly exposed to the rigours of European football, and hence have a better understanding of how to adapt to situations.
And currently one of the country’s most consistent overseas performers is Andile Jali. The central midfielder has been one of the standout players for KV Oostende since signing for the Belgium side in January 2014.
Now 25 years old and originally from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, Jali came to prominence playing for the University of Pretoria, but quickly made a name for himself after signing for Pirates in 2009. He was the backbone of the Buccaneers squad which was so successful under Dutch coach Ruud Krol.
Now, Jali is one of the first names Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba pencils in on the team sheet. A tireless runner with supreme passing skills, Jali has developed a sound midfield partnership with formerly England-based Dean Furman, who recently signed for SuperSport United as a free agent.
But Jali is the man who makes Bafana tick. He sets the rhythm and leads by example, be that in defence or attack. Because as a box-to-box footballer, he’s just as influential in creatively setting up teammates or in doing the dirty work of tackling and tracking back when he needs to knuckle down and get stuck in.
With the money pouring into the local PSL, it stands to reason that players are enjoying the benefits of better salaries. But there are those who believe that it results in a double-edged sword scenario.
Because the top players are able to earn well and live comfortably, they are happy to stay in the PSL, which means that they stagnate and are not able to take their game to a higher level.
Jali, on the other hand, is an example of the advantage of going overseas. Ever since moving to Belgium, the player has improved tremendously. His game has come on in leaps and bounds, hence his elevation to becoming one of the key men for the national team.
But as the team prepares for friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras, the one aspect of Bafana that has been bothering Jali of late is that he believes the teams needs to be more clinical in front of goal.
“We have to score more goals, that’s how you win games,” he said. - Cape Times