Johannesburg - Although there has only been confirmation of a single friendly match in the form of the Nelson Mandela Challenge against Egypt on September 6 ahead of Bafana Bafana’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers a month later, coach Shakes Mashaba at the weekend gave an impression that preparation for the road to Moscow was well underway.
It is partly due to a lack of planning and almost no research on the opposition that the senior men’s national team will not be participating in next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Gabon following an unsuccessful campaign to reach the continental showpiece.
Mashaba himself admitted that had there been enough groundwork, perhaps Bafana could be heading to their third successive Afcon. Poor preparations, however, saw the country's senior team draw in their opener against lowly Gambia over a year ago in Durban before travelling to Mauritania, where they were humiliated 3-1 by the minnows while playing with only 10-men after defender Siyabonga Zulu was red carded in the first half.
Bafana begin their World Cup qualification journey with a trip to Burkina Faso in two months’ time. Although the dates are yet to be confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Mashaba said he had the luxury of at least knowing that the opponents - Cape Verde and Senegal complete Group D of these qualifiers - were not a closed book.
“We have been busy. I should say the CEO (Dennis Mumble) has been busy and we are hopeful in finalising one or two friendly matches before we play those World Cup qualifiers,” said Mashaba. The national team mentor believes there are no outright favourites to win the group, with only one team guaranteed a ticket to Russia.
“It is always this way, when the teams are revealed no one is sure of what the outcome will be until such time that we meet each other. These are good footballing nations and we know it is going to be tough, “ he said as he gave his first reaction to the draw that was made back in June “ But with what is happening in our football (having two teams at the Olympics, seeing the Under-20 qualify for Youth Afcon and their Under-17 counterparts being a single victory away from doing the same) we are confident we will do well,” the coach said.
“We know these teams in that they are not surprise packages and we have played some of them in the past. We know what kind of approach they will adopt, although sometimes people come with that element of surprise. You might think you saw them the last time playing this way, and then they regroup, succeed and go further.”
Bafana host Mauritania, who still have a slim chance of qualifying for the Afcon as one of the best group runners-up, on September 3 in the final qualifying match for next year’s tournament. Mashaba has hinted that he may, for that match, pick the bulk of the Under-23 team currently participating in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro under Owen Da Gama.