Yes, Bafana are out of the Afcon Qualifier to be held in Gabon next year, and this evening will be a totally different game for players whom some did not make it during the embarrassing battle.
They meet in tonight’s rubber stamp game at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, in a match that has no bearing on the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification for Bafana, but could still prove crucial for the visitors with a win giving them a chance to progress as one the two best runners-up.
Thulani Hlatshwayo, Bidvest Wits defender conceded that it could have been better, and Ramahlwe Mphahlele joined in.
“I watched the match against Mauritania and I feel we did not deserve to lose against them as I believe we are better than them,” said the player who has only recently rejoined the set-up and featured in Bafana’s biggest ever away win, the 4-0 thumping of Gambia last month. “Now they are coming into our home, we must win and move on to the next game.
“Even though we know we are not playing to qualify for Afcon, this is good preparation for the 2018 World Cup (qualifiers) in Russia. We have the advantage as we are playing in front of our fans and I don’t see anything stopping us from beating them,” he said.
Kaizer Chiefs defender Ramahlwa Mphahleled says: “This is a very important game for the country. Remember we lost to Mauritania 3-1 and we want to reverse the results, and also we are preparing for the world cup qualifiers so we need to win so that we have the momentum and the confidence to tackle the qualifiers.
We must qualify for Russia,” said Mphahlele.
It kicks off from 19:30
