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2015 Nations Cup Group A Qualifiers

Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba
has refused to buy into talk that failure to qualify for the
2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will not affect his
future, and has called on the team to get their
qualification campaign up-and-running with nothing
less than a win.

“I hear a lot of people saying that the coach is lucky
because there is no mandate. There’s nothing like
that,” Mashaba said in Johannesburg early Monday morning.
“Once you’re given a job, your mandate is automatic.
Nobody doesn’t want to win. I don’t want to be a
losing coach even if I’m building up a side. We’re
looking at bringing results as well."
Mashaba and his team depart for Khartoum on
Wednesday ahead of their Friday's kickoff against
Sudan, in what will be the team’s first group A qualifier
for next year’s continental showpiece.
South Africa return immediately after the match to take
on Nigeria in Cape Town on September 10.
Mashaba ended his spell as the national Under-20
coach on Sunday, going out with a bang after his
young side beat Cameroon 2-1 to qualify for the finals
of the CAF Youth Championships. He said there was
plenty of homework for the senior side to do before
Wednesday's early morning departure.
“There will never be enough time - you can have six
weeks or you can have six days, whatever,” he said.
“Honestly speaking, I know nothing about Sudan but I
know they are a good side and we have to be careful.”
Meanwhile, Bafana defender Anele Ngcongca, expressed
his delight to be working with Mashaba, who
demanded respect from his charges.
“From what I saw this morning ... he said to the
players: ‘you haven’t given me enough, I want to see
enough'," Ngcongca said.
“You can imagine what he means by 'enough' - we
played 45 minutes and some guys came from a 10
hour flight.
“He wants tempo and he wanted the spirit to be high.
You can see that he is a fighter and a winner. I hope
that can be transferred to the players.”
Based in Belgium, Ngcongca said he was pleased to be
back in the national fold and was looking forward to
working with a host of new young players who have
been called up for the first time.
“I was so excited to see the team. I looked at the bunch
of players the coach selected and that’s a motivation in
itself because they are full of energy,” he said.