After an incident-free preparation it is decision time for Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund as the must-win World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Stadium looms large. As he heads to Addis Ababa from Cameroon this afternoon, Igesund will be occupied by tactics and more tactics as beating an in-form team at high altitude is going to require an out of the box approach. Because of their travelling schedule from Douala to Addis Ababa, Bafana’s next full training session will be at the match venue Friday afternoon. Igesund will also be looking for an early goal to settle the nerves as Bafana are likely to struggle at altitude as the game progresses. Altitude is not going to be the only thing working against Bafana as Ethiopians are among the most hostile and raucous supporters on the continent. On the field the Walia Antelopes cannot be undermined as they have been consistent thus far in the qualifiers, with three wins from four matches and six goals scored with only two conceded. “We can’t wait for the game because we have worked so hard. We find ourselves in a situation where we started badly but are back on track now. We should beat Ethiopia and take that confidence to the match against Botswana, who we still cannot afford to take for granted,” Igesund said. Ethiopia coach Sewnet Bishaw will pin his hopes on star strikers Saladin Said, who scored in the 1-1 draw in the first round in Rustenburg, and in Getaneh Kebede. Bafana must be given credit for tightening things up in defence as they have not conceded a goal in their last three games. Captain Itumeleng Khune will keep his place between the poles, with Anele Ngcongca at right back. It remains to be seen who between Tefu Mashamaite and Eric Mathoho will partner Thabo Nthete at centre-back. In the midfield Simphiwe Tshabalala, Dean Furnam, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and May Mahlangu will have to keep the engine room functioning. Bernard Parker and Tokelo Rantie will have to up the tempo to give Bafana an early goal. Bafana’s last line-up: Khune, Ngcongca, Nunes, Nthethe, Mathoho, Furman, Letsholonyane, Tshabalala, Mahlangu, Parker, Rantie *KTM
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:56:24 +0000
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