By Satish Sekar in Rustenburg © Satish Sekar (October 10^th 2020)

Lessons Learned

Fresh from a 1-1 draw against Namibia on Wednesday, Bafana Bafana coach, Molefi Ntseki, turned his attention to Zambia. He pointed out that the absence of Red Bull Salzburg duo Enock Mwepu and Patson Daka – isolating in Austria after being refused permission to join the Chipolopolo amid a Coronavirus scare – did not affect his preparations.

South Africa also have players missing, he pointed out, before adding that he concentrated on his own team and not the opposition anyway.

A Tough Baptism

Sunday’s opponents Zambia, meanwhile, have had a tough time. Having failed to qualify for the last two Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Finals and sitting bottom of their qualifying group without a point after two matches, the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) hired former Orlando Pirates and Uganda boss, Milutin Sredojević (Micho).

The Serbian tactician assembled a camp of 40 players for three matches (Malawi, Kenya and South Africa). Using local players, Zambia beat Malawi 1-0 on Wednesday (7^th) – not a great performance, but friendlies are not so much about results.

But worse followed. Kenya’s Harambee Stars caught the Chipolopolo napping yesterday. The officiating was shocking. Where was goal-line technology when it was needed. A clear goal was not allowed – it should have been a draw, but as Micho conceded the defending was not up to standard.

Kenya snatched a 2-1 victory over Zambia. Both teams had several players missing. But things got worse as FAZ announced that captain Kabaso Chonga had been sent back to DR Congo for what was termed ‘technical reasons.’

He is unlikely to ever play for Zambia again. Nevertheless, the Chipolopolo have some advantages as Micho knows South Africa from his time as coach of Orlando Pirates.

“He will have a plan to stop us playing,” Ntseki said.

Focus

Ntseki said that his focus was not on opponents – even São Tomé e Príncipe, although the matches were about planning for next month’s qualifying matches.

“We have a plan in terms of how we want to prepare the team,” Ntseki said.

But he was clear that while the friendlies were important, the focus remained on São Tomé e Príncipe.

Luther

He praised the contribution of Braga’s Luther Singh, pointing out that the young striker had taken South Africa to the Under-17 World Cup previously.

After 18 minutes Singh converted Kermit Erasmus’ square ball to give South Africa the lead against the Brave Warriors.

He was gradually brought into the Bafana Bafana set up by previous coach Stuart Baxter.

Singh wants to develop both in Europe and for the national team. He thinks that the continuation – Ntseki was an assistant to Baxter – helps as they play similar football.