The
match takes place at the Cape Town Stadium with an 18h00 kick-off.
South
Africa’s preparations did not start off smoothly with the release of players
for national duty a thorny issue. But Igesund is adamant his side will overcome
that.
“Yes
the preparations were not ideal but I have a strong belief that all that will
be forgotten when the players run onto the field. I am very happy with the
week, we had good training sessions so it is all systems go for our clash
against Mozambique. I know the players are ready and hungry to play this game.
I have a smile on my face so I am satisfied with what I saw from my players,”
said Igesund.
The
tournament is now fully recognised by FIFA which means players will be awarded
caps and there are points at stake to help with the rankings.
“We
are also happy that FIFA recognises it as an A category tournament and if we do
well we can get seeded when the time comes but I believe we are ready for this
event. I think it is important that this event is now rated highly by the world
football governing body and we must bear in mind that the other teams that are
here were not invited but they had to qualify to be here. So it is a tough
tournament and every match played is crucial because there is a lot at stake,”
added the Bafana Bafana mentor.
“Any
match played internationally is important. There are no more friendly matches
because no team wants to let their nation down, and the players are well aware
of that. They also know the importance of winning the first game – it will
settle a lot of nerves with us and the supporters and also get a good vibe
going forward, so it is imperative that we get off to a good start against
Mozambique.”
The
Bafana Bafana coach adds that he knows what the opposition will offer but that
cannot count for much as every match is different.
“I
don’t think you can take much from their previous matches that I have seen on
DVDs, especially from what I saw from their qualifier against Angola to come to
this tournament where they drew 1-1. There are only 10 players in their current
squad that played in that match so it is very different from then as they have
included new players since then. So they are a little of a closed book to us
but I know about 60 percent of their team,” adds Igesund.
“I
must emphasise though that I am focussing on our team, on what we have to do.
We will plough back what we have been doing over the last few days and whatever
they do they have to cope with us.“
In
the other Group A match Nigeria will face Mozambique, also at the Cape Town
Stadium.
That
match kicks off at 21h00.
- SAFA
