Igesund relishes Morocco challenge

Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund is looking forward to the international friendly match against Morocco next month. The encounter will be played on 11 October at Agadir New Stadium in Agadir City, southwest of Morocco.

The two teams last met in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in a thrilling group stages match held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban that ended in a 2-2 draw.

Morocco will host the 2015 Edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, and South Africa has been invited to be part of the celebrations to open one of the stadiums for the tournament. Igesund said he was excited about the invite.

“We go there with a two-pronged approach - to see conditions in Morocco as they are the next AFCON hosts and also to start preparations for the qualifiers of that tournament. There are only two FIFA calendar dates between the CHAN tournament and the September qualifiers in 2014, so it is important to take advantage of this invitation and also have a feel of how things are like in Morocco. We would also take this opportunity to include some of the players who will feature in the CHAN tournament to strike a balance,” said the Bafana Bafana mentor.

South Africa will have to take the strongest available squad to Agadir City as per contractual obligations between the Moroccan football federation and SAFA.

Since 2014 is a World Cup year, there are only two FIFA calendar dates after the CHAN tournament – in March 2014 and September - and Igesund emphasised the importance of the Moroccan invite.

- SAFA