South Africa’s hopes of overturning a first-leg deficit against Malawi in the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers have received a major boost, with coach Molefi Ntseki welcoming a number of key reinforcements to camp this week.
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After going down 1-0 in Lilongwe last week, Bafana Bafana were back on the training ground at Loftus Stadium on Thursday, with the mood significantly lifted by the arrival of several experienced campaigners, including Mamelodi Sundowns playmaker Neo Maema.
Also reporting for duty were Ndumulelo Maphangule, Victor Letsoalo, Siyanda Msani, Simon Ramabu and Kamogelo Sebelebele, all of whom missed the first leg.
Ntseki, speaking after a high-intensity friendly match against Motsepe Foundation Championship side Casric Stars, couldn’t hide his relief at finally having the cavalry arrive.
“I think the first one was us playing the game we played in Malawi and the plan was to get a goal and not to concede. Unfortunately, we struggled with the game management,” he admitted.
“Obviously, when you have players that are not playing regularly in their teams and some of them without teams, we ended up conceding that odd goal in the last three minutes of the game. But that did not make us feel bad about the team. We came out of that game with the best lessons that we needed to take into the next game.”
With the second leg set for Sunday at Loftus Stadium, Ntseki said calls were made to clubs to release players, especially those not involved in action this weekend.
“So, we are aware that Chippa played Sundowns, Pirates played Golden Arrows, and then there is also the Nedbank Cup final this coming weekend,” Ntseki said, referring to Saturday’s showpiece between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
“The teams responded very positively because they ended up sending six of the players that we needed in camp,” he added. “That has helped us a lot in terms of finding balance and depth in key areas.”
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Now, with stronger legs and fresher minds in the mix, Ntseki will be hoping for a more clinical performance on Sunday, as Bafana Bafana look to book their spot in the next phase of CHAN qualification.
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