The
South Africa 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations dust has settled down and
quarterfinalists, Bafana Bafana will switch their focus to the 2014 Brazil FIFA
World Cup qualifiers when they face the Central Africa Republic (CAR) later
this month.
Bafana
resume the “Road to Brazil” campaign with a clash against CAR on Saturday, 23
March 2013 at the Cape Town Stadium in a must-win situation for Gordon
Igesund’s side.
This
will be South Africa’s third match in the 2014 World Cup campaign following two
draws against Ethiopia and Botswana last year.
Bafana
Bafana are currently placed third in Group A with two points – two adrift of
leaders Ethiopia, and just one behind second-placed CAR. Botswana is bottom of
the table with one point.
SA
Football Association (SAFA) media officer, Matlhomola Morake sat down with
Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund to talk about the upcoming qualifiers.
Question: You must be
looking forward to the World Cup qualifiers, how will you be approaching them?
Gordon
Igesund: The AFCON tournament is a totally different competition
altogether. In the AFCON I had to select
a team that would play a tournament, a match every three or so days. You had to
consider a lot of things, look at different situations like what would happen
if things were to go the other way. You had to also think about the next game.
Now I have to select a team for a particular game. Now you can pick a team and
not be concerned about what happens if two players get injured. There is no need to worry much about extra
back-up in certain situations.
Question: What have
you been doing since the end of the tournament?
GI:
My technical team and I have been watching a lot of games since the re-start of
the PSL. When I was in hospital, they went on about the job. I have received
reports about players and matches and now that I am out of hospital and fully
recovered, I am also watching the matches again. We have to pick a team that
has to perform and hopefully that will see us qualify for the 2014 Brazil FIFA
World Cup. Now it is just a matter of picking the team that will play this one
particular match and get the three points.
Question: Can we expect
any changes to the playing personnel?
GI:
Yes there will be a couple of changes. Like I said before, when you pick a team
for the tournament you have to cover all your bases. But picking a team for a
once-off match, you can have luxury in certain departments, like I don’t need
too much cover in defence. During AFCON I had two players for every position,
and unfortunately I can only make three substitutions, so it is pointless to
have six players as cover. The team will be a lot more offensive.
Question: A great
momentum was created during AFCON 2013, can we continue with that?
GI:
It is very important that we do, the players are on a high at the moment and we
need to continue from where we left off. The vibe around this team is very
positive and I want to maintain that spirit.
We
lost to Mali on penalties, and I can safely say we ended the tournament
unbeaten in 90 minutes in four matches. Having said that I think the players
have learnt a lot from this tournament, and I think in the short space of time
we had, the players adapted very well. I am thrilled with the way they
responded. But also there are a few areas that we need to fix. There are a few
players that are coming back from injury that I need to have a good look at
over the next couple of days like Morgan Gould, Ayanda Xulu, Bevan Fransman and
Daylon Claasen.
Question: How
different are the challenges of a tournament and that of a qualifier?
GI:
The challenges are the same, every game you play you want to win. But this is a
different scenario in that we are not in a good position in the qualifiers. We
have played two games and are sitting on two points when we should be having
more than that. We have dropped four huge points and are left with four games,
so we are basically playing catch-up. We are in a situation where we almost
have to win every game.
We
are starting from the bottom in respect of points that we should have gained.
If we had one win and a draw it would have made a huge difference. We also
understand that qualifying for the World Cup is huge for us, and if we had
those extra points it would be a different story, so we can’t afford to lose,
that is the bottom line.
Question: How
important is this clash against CAR?
GI:
The first match of the qualifiers (I mean after the AFCON) is very important
because at the moment CAR are above us on the standings, and we need to beat
them to overtake them. Should we achieve that, then psychologically we have
achieved something and then we can get the momentum going. That is why I say
there are no other thoughts other than winning because we are all aware that a
draw will not help our cause. And sometimes when you go out knowing what you
have to do, it becomes a little bit easier because the players know we have to
win.
