South Africa were unable to overcome Gambia in their opening 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match on Saturday night at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, succumbing to a goalless draw, but Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba was keen to highlight a few positive aspects of his side’s approach.
The 68-year-old mentioned that he was expecting to see a very defensive opponent, but also bemoaned the fact that his charges could not convert their chances in the final part of the encounter.
“We knew that they were going to park, not a bus, a train at the back, but I think the boys gave off their best, the only thing is scoring goals,” said Mashaba at the end of the fixture, before going on to complain about the team’s perennial struggle to finish chances in front of goal.
The 68-year-old mentioned that he was expecting to see a very defensive opponent, but also bemoaned the fact that his charges could not convert their chances in the final part of the encounter.
“We knew that they were going to park, not a bus, a train at the back, but I think the boys gave off their best, the only thing is scoring goals,” said Mashaba at the end of the fixture, before going on to complain about the team’s perennial struggle to finish chances in front of goal.
“In the last 10-15 minutes, we should have scored close to three/four goals. It's something that we need to address it. It's not only the national team's problems, it's from our football at home. All teams play but they don't score goals.”
The Bafana Bafana coach continued to address the lack of quality in attack, illustrated by the fact that his players could not convert any of the opportunities in their home match.
“At this level you are not going to be chopping and changing the team all the time, you need consistency, especially in the strike-force, which is our biggest problem. People will say now that the striking force wasn't good, we created chances we needed one person who could finish up. If we had a finisher, then I think I'll be talking different stories,” he explained.
Mashaba went on to single out substitute striker Siphelele Ntshangase for praise, as the player came very close to finding a winner late in the game. The tactician believes that this experience will be invaluable for the attacker going forward.
“That's what impressed us, everybody was on it, they had the finger on the pulse, look at the young boy Siphelele (Ntshangase), he was unfortunate not to score a goal, that would have been one of the greatest things for him in his life,” he said. “It's good now, he knows what it's all about, the next time he comes in he'll be knowing what to expect.”
Midfielder May Mahlangu reiterated the words of his coach in a post-match interview with the media, saying, “I'm happy the way we played, we created a lot of opportunities and we couldn't score but we kept going, kept going, and we never gave up”
“I'm just happy to be back in the national team and the way we are playing football, it's just a pity that we didn't win at home,” he added.
Ayanda Patosi was one of the better Bafana players in the match, and he was disappointed to emerge from the encounter with only a single point and no goals.
“It was really difficult and we had to try to play and we couldn’t score. I wanted to shoot from far but it was difficult to find the target, I tried, but we couldn't score and next time it will be better,” Patosi said.
“You know, we really want to try to change the mind of the people, we want to score when we're on the field and we are doing our best, and you could see we were trying, everybody was going forward. We were attacking, nobody was defending much and we were unlucky to not score the goal,” Patosi concluded.
Mashaba will have to pick up the pieces and refocus his squad ahead of their next qualifier away against Mauritania in September.
The Bafana Bafana coach continued to address the lack of quality in attack, illustrated by the fact that his players could not convert any of the opportunities in their home match.
“At this level you are not going to be chopping and changing the team all the time, you need consistency, especially in the strike-force, which is our biggest problem. People will say now that the striking force wasn't good, we created chances we needed one person who could finish up. If we had a finisher, then I think I'll be talking different stories,” he explained.
Mashaba went on to single out substitute striker Siphelele Ntshangase for praise, as the player came very close to finding a winner late in the game. The tactician believes that this experience will be invaluable for the attacker going forward.
“That's what impressed us, everybody was on it, they had the finger on the pulse, look at the young boy Siphelele (Ntshangase), he was unfortunate not to score a goal, that would have been one of the greatest things for him in his life,” he said. “It's good now, he knows what it's all about, the next time he comes in he'll be knowing what to expect.”
Midfielder May Mahlangu reiterated the words of his coach in a post-match interview with the media, saying, “I'm happy the way we played, we created a lot of opportunities and we couldn't score but we kept going, kept going, and we never gave up”
“I'm just happy to be back in the national team and the way we are playing football, it's just a pity that we didn't win at home,” he added.
Ayanda Patosi was one of the better Bafana players in the match, and he was disappointed to emerge from the encounter with only a single point and no goals.
“It was really difficult and we had to try to play and we couldn’t score. I wanted to shoot from far but it was difficult to find the target, I tried, but we couldn't score and next time it will be better,” Patosi said.
“You know, we really want to try to change the mind of the people, we want to score when we're on the field and we are doing our best, and you could see we were trying, everybody was going forward. We were attacking, nobody was defending much and we were unlucky to not score the goal,” Patosi concluded.
Mashaba will have to pick up the pieces and refocus his squad ahead of their next qualifier away against Mauritania in September.
By: Cafonline.com
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