Bafana Bafana coach, Gordon Igesund, says he is not ‘too disappointed’ by Bafana’s 2-0 loss against Nigeria in the Mandela Challenge, which was staged at the Durban’s, Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday evening.
“I’m not too disappointed by the loss, because the boys are a little bit rusty. This is our first game since we played against Ethopia,” said Igesund.
Uche Nwafor’s brace was enough to add misery in the Bafana Bafana camp. Uche came off the bench to help the Super Eagles win the 2013 Mandela Cup Challenge.
Bafana Bafana goalkeeper was left wondering in the 49th minute, when Uche Nwafor scored his tricky back heel goal. The Super Eagles goal served as wake up call for the homeside, but Reneilwe Letsholonyane series of attempts were not enough to pass through the big Nigerian goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama.
The Introduction of Musa and Victor Moses in the second half made South African side chase after shadows. It was in the 68th minutes when the combination of Victor Moses and Musa resulted in Uche scoring his second goal which was the final nail in the coffin.
Even though Bafana Bafana was smacked-down by the current African champions, the dejected Gordon Igesund is confident that Bafana’s meeting with Burkina Faso on Saturday in FNB stadium, will yield positive result for them. “The most important thing for now is to go into the Burkisa Faso game with our heads up and try to get better result. It is important for us to win games and keep playing and it is also important for us to be able to know progress with certain players,” said Gordon.
Meanwhile, the elated Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi has analysed their victory as a much-needed confidence booster ahead of 2014 World Cup qualifier against Malawi on the 7th of September. “The result line is not what is important for me. What matters is unity and the attitude of the players in the game,” said Keshi.