Furman calls on Bafana to do it for the fans

Bafana Bafana won’t be going to the 2017 African Cup of Nations, but they hope to start with a clean slate as they build up to the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign.

Bafana Bafana won’t be going to the 2017 African Cup of Nations, but they hope to start with a clean slate as they build up to the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign.

That journey will start on October 3 when South Africa travel to Burkina Faso for their first Group D game, but before that, they will face North African giants Egypt in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on Tuesday at Orlando Stadium in Soweto (7.05pm kickoff).

Shakes Mashaba’s team endured a horrendous Afcon qualifying stage, ending third with just seven points from Group M, which also included log-leaders Cameroon (14 points), Mauritania (eight) and The Gambia (two).

They finished off with another disappointing 1-1 draw against 10-man Mauritania in Nelspruit last Friday, with striker Thamsanqa Gabuza missing a second-half penalty.

But midfielder Dean Furman believes that Bafana can find solutions ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Egypt, which will hopefully kick-start their passage to Russia in 2018.

“When you think of the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, this is another important game for us despite it being a friendly encounter. Egypt are a top side on the continent and they will also be looking to get themselves in good shape for those qualifiers. For us, it is another important opportunity to keep working on our team,” Furman told the SA Football Association website.

“Despite not qualifying for Afcon, our performances have been good of late and we would like to continue with that. Egypt has great players and we have to be wary of the threat they pose, and we will be looking to go in front of our fans and get a win to wrap up this international window.”

The 28-year-old former Bafana captain has surprisingly been largely out in the cold since returning to South Africa from England, where he had lengthy spells at Oldham and Doncaster Rovers.

Furman joined SuperSport United last August, but he lost his starting place in the national team, with the likes of Andile Jali and Hlompho Kekana preferred in central midfield.

He earned his 30th cap off the bench against Mauritania, and perhaps some of his defensive ability to intercept threatening passes from the opposition and break up Egyptian attacks could see him get more game time on Tuesday.

Furman, though, admits that Bafana have to improve drastically in the final-third if they want to beat the Pharaohs.

“Ultimately that’s why we did not qualify from this group – to take five points from Mauritania and Gambia, with no disrespect to them, is simply not good enough for us and something we have to put right in our next campaign. We can’t drop points, especially at home, we need to capitalise when playing in front of our fans,” he said.

“On the night against Mauritania we were a goal down and showed great strength to come back, but unfortunately we could not get that goal that would have given us a welcome three points. But we have to take the positives – I think the performance was good.”

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@ashfakmohamed - Independent Media