Johannesburg - Rivaldo Coetzee has diagnosed the defensive problems of the national Under-23 team, which make up the Bafana Bafana side playing in the Cosafa Cup in Namibia, as caused by the absence of a vocal presence at the back.
Coetzee is something of a silent leader, preferring to let his work do the talking. That hasn’t changed even with the 19-year-old centre-back given the responsibilities of captaining the team in the absence of regular skipper Keagan Dolly.
Kwanda Mngonyama and Tshepo Rikhotso are just like Coetzee, reserved in nature. The pair have partnered the Ajax Cape Town defender in the central defence that has been porous since the Olympics qualifiers in Senegal last year.
The excuse then was that Coetzee was still getting used to the set-up because it was his first time with the team. But seven games later it hasn’t changed. It was further exposed by Lesotho on Saturday where they managed to sneak into the semi-finals to face Swaziland tomorrow at Sam Nujoma Stadium with kick-off at 5pm.
”What makes things difficult is that there isn’t any of us at the back who is talkative,” Coetzee said, speaking from Namibia. “We all rely on our individual talents, which is how we have played – more as individuals than a collective back four. It’s up to all of us to change that which will help us improve our organisation and structure.
For that to happen, we must improve our communication. The goalkeeper also needs to help us because he has a better point of view than all of us. Reyaad (Pieterse) did well in that aspect even though it was his first game with the team. It’s good that we are here because these are all the things that we need to work on so that by the time we get to the Olympics we are solid because we have the talent. It will get better in our next game.
”It needs to get better, as they will be tested by the tournament’s top goalscorer Felix Badenhorst with a spot in the final on Saturday up for grabs. If they do that, Coetzee will appear in his second Cosafa Cup final after he won the Under-20 version of it in 2013 in Lesotho.
He, left-back Tebogo Moerane and coach Shakes Mashaba are the survivors of that team.”That tournament did a lot for my career because I went on to play for Bafana Bafana, was promoted to the first team at Ajax where I am now a regular,” Coetzee said. “I am grateful for the chance that coach Mashaba gave me.
Even getting the armband here is a privilege because I have only ever captain the Under-17 national team and Ajax juniors. This is a totally different level which is preparing me well for the future.”Despite struggling to find a solid central pairing, there were some positives for the team that’s using the Cosafa Cup to prepare for the Olympics.
The problem on the left flank was solved by fielding essentially two left-backs in Moerane and Aubrey Modiba. They swapped roles of left-back and left winger with ease, which meant that they were able to defend high up and break with speed.
”This is a great team that will go far, we just need to improve our structure and communication,” Coetzee said.
The Star