Bafana Bafana’s new-found confidence under Pitso Mosimane has them dreaming big ahead of the African Nations Cup.
|||Katlego Mphela has boldly backed South Africa to reach the semifinals of next year’s African Nations Cup, insisting Pitso Mosimane’s team are re-emerging as a force on the continent following an impressive qualifying campaign.
Bafana Bafana have not quite reached the 2012 continental finals, taking place in Equatorial Guinea/Gabon, as they still require a minimum of two points from their remaining two pool matches, but Mphela is already looking ahead to making a lasting impact at the finals in January.
“I think we can be the surprise package at the Nations Cup next year,” Mphela, speaking at Bafana’s new kit launch on Tuesday, said. The bright yellow strip with green trimmings is made by Puma, the German apparel makers who have signed a contract with the SA Football Association that will conclude after the 2018 World Cup. Bafana will wear the new kit for the first time on August 10, when they play a home friendly against a yet-to-be-confirmed opposition.
Mphela was one of the five Bafana players chosen to model the kit, but he was already looking forward to wearing it at next year’s finals.
“We saw what happened at the last tournament (Angola 2010) when teams like Zambia did extremely well to reach the quarterfinals. We too have become very competitive and I believe we can reach the semifinals,” he said.
Mphela’s prediction is bold given that Bafana didn’t even qualify for Angola, having stumbled embarrassingly under the stewardship of Joel Santana.
In any case, Bafana have had a wretched record at the continental finals since the turn of the century. They failed to score a goal or point at the 2006 edition in Egypt, and managed two draws at Ghana 2008, bowing out at the first hurdle.
In fact, the last time that Bafana even won a match at the Nations Cup was in 2004, when they beat lowly Benin, but they haven’t made it past the group phase since 2002.
Under Mosimane, however, SA have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround which has seen them top Group G ahead of seven-time champions Egypt, whom Bafana have virtually kicked out of next year’s tournament by first beating them in Johannesburg in March and then holding them to a heroic draw in Cairo at the weekend.
“Since our last World Cup match against France, we have regained our confidence. Beating France showed us we can beat anyone, that’s why even when we played against a strong team like Egypt, we believed we would get a result. This is the attitude that we can take into the next Afcon tournament.
“We work better as a team, as you saw in our last match over the weekend. If we keep it this way we can go further,” Mphela remarked.
It remains unclear if Mphela would still be playing in the Premiership next season.
“Obviously my ambition is to go overseas and I have said it many times. At the moment, nothing has come through, but my manager says there have been enquiries from interested clubs ... but there’s nothing concrete on the table.
“It is still early days as there are four to five more weeks of pre-season left. Maybe something will come through.
“My goal is to play overseas next season, preferably at a team that plays in the Champions League,” he said.
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/bafana-a-force-in-africa-again-1.1080469
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