Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Ramatsiyi Moholoa

After completing a week-long training camp in Germany, Bafana Bafana are geared up for tomorrow night's international friendly against Italy in Siena.

The 22-member team arrived in Siena last night from Nuremburg in two groups due to lack of seats for all of them on a single flight.

Kagisho Dikgacoi, Bafana Bafana midfielder, said they were looking forward to upsetting the reigning world champions in their own back yard.

"It's a good thing that we started with an intensive training camp in Germany before the big game against Italy," he said.

"Another plus factor for us was the arrival of a physical trainer [Brazilian Francisco Gonzalez], who brings a wealth of international experience.

"There is a great difference in terms of the fitness of the players, the physical trainer has been working on our fitness level.

"I think people are going to see a more improved Bafana Bafana in terms of fitness, which augurs well for our preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.

"The training camp went very well, we focused more on the technical and tactical aspects of the game, including sharpening our finishing."

Dikgacoi, who is from Brandfort in Free State, said tomorrow's game was a great platform to assess the progress of their preparations for Ghana.

"It is good that we are playing against the world's number one ranked country and reigning world champions.

"Playing against them will inspire all of us to give it our best shot. The spirit in the camp is absolutely phenomenal and we are looking for a positive result. We promise people back home that we won't let them down," said Dikgacoi, who plays for Lamontville Golden Arrows.

Bamuza Sono, one of the new members of the team, said: "It has been going very well and we are fired up for the game against Italy."`

Mandla Mazi- buko, Bafana Bafana head of delegation, said: "I've never seen so much commitment and high spirits in Bafana Bafana in a long time.

"Players like Benni McCarthy, Aaron Mokoena, Terror Fanteni, Teko Modise and Nasief Morris are all excited and looking forward to the game."

Team mana- ger Sipho Nkumane said Bafana Bafana will begin their final preparations for the game in Siena this morning.

Meanwhile, the South African Football Players' Union will appear before the Sport Portfolio Committee today to update them on their programmes .