Ntseki backs Bafana to go for the throat in Sao Tome rematch

Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki believes South Africa can build on their second half display against Sao Tome on Friday as they face the same opponent tonight at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

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Bafana picked up a slightly disappointing 2-0 win in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying Group C encounter at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, and will now take on Sao Tome in the Friendly City, with the islanders agreeing to play their ‘home’ qualifier in PE, to avoid extra travel in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

A goalless first half in Durban was followed by a much better performance after the break, as a Percy Tau penalty and a late Bongani Zungu header gave Bafana the three points, keeping them three points behind Ghana in Group C. The top two teams in the group will qualify for Cameroon 2022.

“If we can score more, we will have more positive energy filtering to everybody in the team,” said Ntseki, after his side also missed some good chances after the break at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Ntseki will remember well the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, where Bafana beat the Seychelles 6-0 in Durban, but then went over to the islanders and drew 0-0 on an artificial pitch. This time, they have a double home advantage so there can be no excuses if they do not rack up another three points.

“Every South African is aware the six points are important to us. We will play to win on Monday and winning … will give us a very good opportunity to qualify for the Afcon.

“We respect Sao Tome, they have nothing to lose, we have a lot to lose if we don’t get a positive result. So it is for us to take the game to them, like we did today. It has been the same in every game we play, we cannot allow Ghana to just run away with the group. We are also a force to be reckoned with and you can only get respect if you do well against teams like Ghana.”

Bafana could have striker Kermit Erasmus fit again for tonight’s game, after reporting that he was back training with the team in Port Elizabeth.

“There are no fresh injuries and homeboy, Kermit Erasmus who missed Friday’s win, joined the rest of the team in the regeneration exercises,” read a statement on the Safa website.