Five things we learned from Bafana Bafana’s friendly internationals

The return of Bafana Bafana to the international scene over the last few days didn’t go very well at all, with Molefi Ntseki’s side losing 2-1 to Namibia on Sunday, to follow a 1-1 draw with Namibia on Thursday. Jonty Mark looks at five things we learned from these friendly internationals.

READ MORE: Losing Foster was a huge setback, claims Bafana coach Ntseki after Zambia loss.

Ntseki needs to stop with the lame excuses

Molefi Ntseki coach of South Africa during the international friendly match between South Africa and Namibia on 08 October 2020 at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Phokeng Pic: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki just couldn’t stop going on about how his players lacked match fitness, after both the 1-1 draw with Namibia and the 2-1 defeat to Zambia. Even if he has a point, the need to deflect from poor results does not look good on Bafana Bafana’s fairly green-at-the-gills head coach. Namibia haven’t had a professional league at all for about two years, while Zambia even if they did have more time with their head coach Milutin Sredojevic, fielded an under-strength side by comparison with Bafana. These were poor performances from Bafana, fatigue or no fatigue, and Ntseki would do well to reflect far more on this than his players’ readiness ahead of Sao Tome and next month’s Africa Cup of Nations. qualifying resumption.

Motjeka Madisha is a top class defender

Motjeka Madisha. Pic: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix

One of the bright spots of Bafana Bafana’s performance against Zambia was Motjeka Madisha, the Mamelodi Sundowns defender showing fantastic positional sense against Chipolopolo and putting his body on the line on more than one occasion to deny Zambia a clear shot on goal. Madisha, indeed, outshone Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo on the day, and has surely reinforced his claim for a permanent place in Ntseki’s squad. The 25 year-old was superb for Masandawana as they won a domestic treble last season and will now hope to kick on to even greater heights for club and country.

Percy Tau is almost too vital to the SA cause

Percy Tau Pic: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)

It took one spark of genius to open up Zambia on Sunday and inevitably it came from Percy Tau, the Anderlecht maverick spinning in central midfield and sending an inch-perfect pass for Keagan Dolly to round the ‘keeper and give Bafana the lead. In the end, of course, South Africa lost the game, but Tau underlined his importance to this team. Bafana must be careful, however, not to be over-reliant on their best attacking player, as without him the sparks of creativity are few and far between.

Singh offers promise for the future

Luther Singh scored Bafana’s goal against Namibia. Pic: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Luther Singh didn’t get much of a chance to show what he can do against Zambia, but displayed enough against Namibia to illustrate why he is one of the better young prospects that South Africa have available. He pointed to his head after scoring against the Brave Warriors as if to indicate the coolness of mind it took to compose himself inside the penalty area and fire home. Singh is a versatile forward who could well prove useful to Ntseki in Afcon qualifying, and if not, who is certainly set to be a star for South Africa at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Bafana’s new kit sponsorship is off to a shambolic start

South Africa’s new Le Coq Sportif kit doesn’t look that bad, which makes it all the more of a shame that it got one of the worst launches you will ever see in the form of a bizarre and dreadfully-produced video ahead of Bafana friendlies against Namibia and Zambia. To make matters worse, it seems that the sponsors hadn’t bothered to make raincoats for Bafana, and so in a deluge in Phokeng, they were seen wearing the old Nike jackets, with the label covered over. It does all beg the question of exactly how much this sponsorship deal that the South African Football Association have signed is actually worth? This, after all, was more of a Coq-Up Sportif.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.