Pretoria - Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund has come out in defence of his side’s 1-1 draw against Mali, which put the national team in a tricky position of having to win their last group A CHAN match against Nigeria on Sunday at Cape Town Stadium.
Igesund described Bafana’s draw, which has now left the group wide open, as a fair result. A win against the West Africans should have guaranteed the hosts progress to the quarter-finals.
“It was a very difficult game, both teams had their chances. It could have been nice to have scored two or more goals but it just didn’t come because they defended very well. I have said before that they are a very difficult side to play against and at the end of the day, the points shared is a fair result,” said Igesund.
Striker Bernard Parker scored from the penalty in the first half to give South Africa the lead, only to be cancelled by Mali in the second half.
It was a wonderful strike by Adama Traore which gave Bafana Bafana skipper Itumeleng Khune no chance. However, Igesund believes Mali’s equaliser should have been better dealt with.
“The goal we conceded was a soft one. We were not aggressive enough in the situation. We should have dealt with the ball better, but there was a bit of hesitation from my players and Traore struck the ball very well, giving Khune no chance. But we should not have allowed that to happen. We could have cleared it but that’s football for you,” he said.
Regarding the last match against Nigeria, the Bafana mentor said: “We now have to apply our minds for the Nigeria match, but we will go back to work and prepare well for that match.
“Every play every match to win, even if we need a draw we will play to win it. This is a very tough group and all the matches haven’t been easy.
“Our result puts pressure on everybody in the group because it is very close. I think people underestimated the quality in this competition and we certainly have to get a result against Nigeria.”
The Nigerian team, coached by former player Steven Keshi, beat Mozambique 4-2 last night. - SAnews.gov.za
