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Shakes' plans for Afcon may be derailed by clubs

HALTED: SA defender Erick Mathoho, left, tries to stop Nigerian attacker Ahmed Musa during the Afcon qualifying match in Uyo on Wednesday. The Group A game ended 2-2 PHOTO: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI
HALTED: SA defender Erick Mathoho, left, tries to stop Nigerian attacker Ahmed Musa during the Afcon qualifying match in Uyo on Wednesday. The Group A game ended 2-2 PHOTO: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

SHAKES Mashaba faces an uphill battle to get Bafana Bafana ready for the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

The national coach has presented a plan to Safa to have friendly matches to prepare for the tournament set to commence on January 17, but he's aware he'll not have his best players because the matches will fall outside Fifa dates.

"We have submitted the plan. What we need now is the approval of those games. There is very little time to get friendlies and the PSL will only end in the last week of December, which makes it difficult. We will have to rely on fringe players and junior players from the under-17s and under-20s," Mashaba said.

"It's difficult because these friendlies will have to be played out of the Fifa dates, which means you don't get the best opposition. We only hope that the countries we play against will give us a challenge."

Mashaba believes Bafana will be taken seriously at the Nations Cup after their impressive qualifying campaign.

"After this, I doubt there is anyone who is going to take us lightly. In every tournament we go to, South Africa is the team to beat, so this makes it worse. We are targets now. With time we can go places with this team," he said.

"This team qualified with a game to go. They performed very well and we did not have any problems. We made the players aware that it's time for change."

Despite squandering a two-goal lead against the Super Eagles, Mashaba praised his players for their performance on the night.

"We knocked the current champions out of the competition and we were so proud. There is that history between us. It's not only about three points when we play Nigeria. There is still a score to settle against them. They were lucky we did not beat them in Cape Town and they were lucky we did not beat them in Nigeria. The red card [shown to Reneilwe Letsholonyane] disorganised us," Mashaba said.

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