Bafana players confident of reaching Russia
Clayton Daniels says the fact that Bafana Bafana have rediscovered their attacking mojo has to give them hope that they can beat Senegal twice next month and qualify for the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
Clayton Daniels and Bongani Zungu of South Africa during the 2018 World Cup qualifier football match between South Africa and Burkina Faso at Soccer City. (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
Bafana stunned Burkina Faso 3-1 at FNB Stadium on Saturday, ripping the Stallions defence to shreds to score three times before half-time. South Africa will qualify for Russia if they beat Senegal in Polokwane on November 10 and away on November 14.
“That is typical of the South African type of football, the way we played,” said Daniels, who gave a composed performance for his country in central defence.
READ: Dolly lauds Bafana camp after Burkina Faso win
“We like to play with a bit more freedom in the last third, so scoring three goals is a boost, we can now go into the next games knowing that if we defend well we will create chances for our strikers.
“We can beat Senegal if the guys look after themselves and we put our minds in the right place going into these games. We played Senegal before, and we beat them 2-1. It is not going to be easy but we have the capability. I think everyone is buying into what the coach (Stuart Baxter) has instilled in us. If we can always put in big performances we can get results.”
The 2-1 win Daniels was referring to was the Group D victory over Senegal at the Peter Mokaba Stadium last November, a result that has now effectively been annulled by Fifa, with Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey banned for life for match manipulation.
Bafana midfielder Keagan Dolly also believes Bafana can win next month’s replayed match and the away encounter with the Teranga Lions.
“We defended well, took our chances and stuck to our game plan. Going forward it can give us the confidence we need, knowing we must win both games (against Senegal). We showed character and it showed we want to go to Russia and I think if we continue working as hard as we did today we have a good chance to qualify,” said Dolly.
Daniels, meanwhile, formed part of a new-look back four against Burkina Faso that performed especially well in the absence of the injured Thulani Hlatshwayo and Ramahlwe Mphahlele and the suspended Erick Mathoho.
The SuperSport United defender admitted that it helped to be reunited with his fellow Matsatsantsa centreback Morgan Gould.
“I think it was quite easy for me and Morgan to slot right in there, because we have been playing together for a long time,” said Daniels.
“We are experienced so the key for us was to communicate well with each other. I think Thami (Mkhize) at rightback did really well on debut too. We showed we are good players and tried our best not to concede early goals and to keep us in the game.”
