Bafana
Bafana will play five-time world champions Brazil on Wednesday, 5 March, 2014
at FNB Stadium in a match billed ‘It’s Samba Time.’
Tickets
for the much-anticipated clash will cost R50, R100 and R200. They will go on
sale immediately at Computicket outlets and at Shoprite, Checkers and
Shoprite-Checkers stores around the country.
Kick
off is at 19h00 SA time.
The
Samba Boys are arriving in the country as 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup
champions after walloping Spain 3-0 in the final. Brazil is also one of the
favourites to win the World Cup 2014 on home soil and is currently by far the
strongest national team in the world. They have some of the best technical
staff on the universe in Carlos Alberto Parreira and coach Felipe Scolari, all
former World Cup winners.
The
President of the South African Football Association (SAFA), Dr Danny Jordaan
said the game is a massive opportunity for Bafana Bafana to get the whole world
talking. “A good performance against Brazil will convince the doubters that
South Africa is back,” he said.
“This
is one of the last games Brazil will play before the World Cup and they will be
fielding a team of stars who will be absolutely determined to play at their
best to make sure they are in the World Cup team. Our team on the other end is
also hungry for success. It’s going to be a really good game.”
Dr
Jordaan said that SAFA had made a special effort to finalise arrangements so
that tickets could be on sale before Christmas. “For a soccer fan there could
be no better present for Christmas and New Year than a ticket to see Brazil.”
The
SAFA President said bringing the current Confederations Cup holders to our
shores is part of the strategy of the new SAFA executive to build a world class
Bafana Bafana.
“If
you want to be the best, you have to play the best and our announcement of
Brazil today as Bafana Bafana’s opponents in March is testimony to our ambition
of making our national side world beaters,” added Dr Jordaan.
“Matches
between Bafana Bafana and Brazil have always been keenly contested, dating back
to the Nelson Mandela Challenge matches and this will be the fourth meeting
between the two sides. Each one of the previous matches have been hard fought
and provided great entertainment. This one should be really special because the
players all know this is an opportunity to shine.”
His
sentiments were echoed by Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund who praised the
SAFA boss for arranging yet another global mouth-watering encounter for South
African soccer fans.
“This
is a huge game for us, good for the country and players. We have just beaten
Spain and we want to give a good account of ourselves against the in-form
Brazilians. To have them here as part of their preparations for the 2014 World
Cup shows the amount of respect they have for us,” said Igesund. “I want to
thank the President of SAFA for making this game happen. “
Gauteng
Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane said by hosting the Brazil/South Africa match,
Gauteng was underscoring its tag as the Home of Champions.
“Hosting
the opening and the closing ceremonies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup showed that
we are the leading province in South Africa when it comes to hosting major
sporting events. We are doing it again by hosting Brazil, a few months after
welcoming world champions Spain to our shores,” said Mokonyane.
“Gauteng
is a world class city with excellent sporting facilities and it boasts many
tourist attractions. We are therefore encouraging soccer lovers from across the
country and the world to buy there tickets and join the festivities at Soccer
City. This might be the last time to see Brazilian team in action before the
June 2014 kick-off of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil,” added the Premier.
