Ntseki admits Bafana boost as they aim to double Sao Tome’s away-day troubles

Molefi Ntseki is well aware of the major advantage Bafana Bafana are gaining by playing both their 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sao Tome e Principe on home soil.

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South Africa will play Sao Tome on Friday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, in their official home fixture, but will then play Sao Tome again on Tuesday in Port Elizabeth, after the island side have agreed to play their ‘home’ game over here, to avoid any further complications caused by travelling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bafana, even with their struggles in recent years, would be expected to beat Sao Tome, ranked 182^nd in the world, and comfortably the minnows in Afcon qualifying Group C, anywhere on the planet. It would, however, certainly be made more difficult for them if they had to play the away tie in Sao Tome.

One only needs to go back to Stuart Baxter’s Bafana, who played another island minnow, the Seychelles, in qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, beating them 6-0 in Durban, but then going to the Seychelles and only mustering a goalless draw.

“There are benefits to playing both games in South Africa, we are used to the conditions in this country,” said Ntseki, who was an assistant coach to Baxter when Bafana gave that hapless display away from home on an artificial pitch.

“For players coming in from Europe, the biggest benefit is also in terms of travelling. If, for example, Kamohelo Mokojo, flies from the USA (he plays for Cincinnati FC in the MLS) to South Africa, and from South Africa to Sao Tome, and then from Sao Tome back to the US, that is more than 50 hours of travelling. When a player gets back to his club, he will be finished when it comes to being in the starting 11 and to winning matches for his club.”

Sao Tome already showed what they can do on their home surface, also artificial, when they only suffered a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of group favourites Ghana in their last qualifier.

“It reminded me of the Seychelles,” said Ntseki.

“They only lost that 1-0 and Ghana scored a penalty very late in the game. This is the respect you have to give to opponents like this.”

South Africa also haven’t had ideal preparation for these two games, with the coronavirus pandemic, and then with disappointing friendly results last month, where they drew with Namibia and were beaten by Zambia.

“The previous games were a good wake up call because of the results we had,” said Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo.

“We know how important it is to get six points against Sao Tome.”

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