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Bafana players panicked

CONCERNED: Gordon Igesund looks dejected after Saturday's game. photo: veli nhlapo
CONCERNED: Gordon Igesund looks dejected after Saturday's game. photo: veli nhlapo

BAFANA Bafana looked like they were panicking and tried to play at a "hundred miles an hour", said coach Gordon Igesund after his side's 0-0 opening Africa Cup of Nations draw against Cape Verde at the National Stadium on Saturday night.

Igesund said the first half for Bafana was a "complete waste of time", and that Bafana missed out its midfield and knocked the ball too long for the front two. He said his players froze and failed to slow the game down, keep possession and play a passing game against the defence-minded Cape Verde who were more than happy to play for a draw in their first Afcon finals game.

"I was very disappointed in the first half," the coach said. "A lot of players didn't quite come to the party. I thought that we kept missing out our midfield. We kept knocking balls trying to get from the back to the front too quickly. We never had creativity in the middle of the park. We wanted to create more opportunities - we never did that.

"And the guys looked like they were panicking - everything was a hundred miles an hour. We needed the foot on the ball, pass the ball around, which we didn't do at all until the second half when we tried to do that better.

"But the first half for me was a complete waste of 45 minutes. We've got so many skilful players in our team, and today their first touch, or their nerves, got to them."

Igesund admitted he might have erred by not starting with more creativity in his midfield, which had two grafters centrally in Kagisho Dikgacoi and Reneilwe Letsholonyane.

Thulani Serero and Katlego Mphela, who both returned from injuries in the month before the Afcon, both came off the bench.

"I wanted to be very offensive and take the game to Cape Verde," Igesund said. "There were a couple of players who didn't quite get their foot on the ball and rise to the occasion.

"But at the end of the day, in hindsight, with the line-up today I thought we could have maybe had a lot more creativity in the middle of the park.

"Serero - I've spoken to him one-to- one - has told me he's only good for about 30 to 45 minutes. But after this game I think he might get a little bit more game time as we go along."

The coach added: "Now we have to go for it against Angola, and I'm sure they feel the same way. We're going to take every game as it comes and try to get through the group stages first and then see what happens."

By yesterday, there were 2,500 tickets left for Wednesday's double-header at Moses Mbhida Stadium in Durban where SA meet Angola at 5pm and Morocco face Cape Verde at 8pm.

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