Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Ramatsiyi Moholoa

LAUSSANE, Switzerland - Portugal's senior national soccer team coach Carlos Queiroz has issued a brotherly advice to Bafana Bafana to start absorbing pressure when under siege and learn how to regroup immediately in order to avoid being embarrassed by the opposition.

Speaking after a well- deserved 2-0 win over Bafana Bafana here on Tuesday night, Queiroz pointed out that South Africa could find themselves in big trouble during the Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup if their approach did not change.

The Mozambique-born Queiroz said he had nothing personal against Bafana Bafana, the team he coached between 2000 and 2002 when he was sacked by Safa.

For Queiroz, Tuesday's win was a morale-booster ahead of their do-or-die World Cup qualifier against Albania on June 6.

Queiroz said: "South Africa play a mixture of African and Brazilian type of soccer. I think the team can grow up in the build-up to the Confederations Cup.

"The South African national team tends to crack when under pressure from the opposition, which is something that I observed in their last two games against Chile and Norway.

"The team must learn to deal with pressure. We did well by scoring an early goal (in the fourth minute by Bruno Alves). Our players were then able to play their normal football, which is what we should do in the remaining qualifiers.

"I will be coming to South Africa for the Confederations Cup," said Queiroz, who joined the star-studded Portugal following the dismissal of Brazilian Luis Fillipe Scolari at the end of last season.

Queiroz used "sawubona" (hello in nguni language) when he came across Africans from Mzansi, who were here for the game.

Joel Santana, Bafana Bafana coach, was happy with the performance of players, saying the experience was good for their Confederations Cup and World Cup preparations.

He said his charges also needed to work on their physique, saying the issue would be dealt with at their May camp.