Pretoria - Bafana Bafana arrived in Equatorial Guinea on Friday morning for the Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament which starts on Saturday.
The continental showpiece will kick-off with an opening group A match between the host, Equatorial Guinea and Congo Brazzaville in Bata stadium at 5pm.
Another group A match between Burkina Faso and Gabon will be played at 8pm at the same venue. When the two nations, with national teams heavily comprised of foreign based players, faced each other during the 2015 Afcon qualifiers, the Gabonese won 2-nil at home and drew 1-1.
Two years ago, the Burkinabe Stallions finished as the 2013 Afcon runners-up after they were defeated 1-nil in a pulsating final match by Nigeria played at FNB stadium, outside Johannesburg in South Africa.
On Sunday, 18 January, Zambia commonly known as Chipolopolo or the Copper bullets will look for a winning start to their 2015 Afcon campaign, when they take on DR Congo in Estadio de Ebebiyín at 5pm.
The Zambians won the tournament in 2012 when it was co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The last Group B match at the same venue of the day will see Tunisia locking horns against Cape Verde, which are well-known for causing an upset. Kick-off is at 8pm.
Bafana Bafana 2015 Afcon
South Africa, who have never lost a match since Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba took over as Bafana Bafana head coach, are expected to give Algeria a hard time. The two teams meet at their opening 2015 Afcon match in Mongomo stadium on Monday, 19 January. Kick-off is at 8pm.
Before this much awaited Bafana Bafana Afcon opening match, the Black Stars of Ghana will play against Senegal at the same venue at 5pm.
South Africa will play its second match against other tough opponents, Senegal, at Mongomo stadium on 23 January at 8pm, while their last group stage match against Ghana will be played on 27 January at the same venue at 7pm.
In this Group C, Bafana Bafana are the lowest in terms of the World FIFA ranking. They are 52nd in the World ranking and 12th in the African continent, while their first opponents Algeria are 18th in the World and 1st in the continent followed by Senegal who are 35 in the World and 4th in the continent.
Ghana is 37th on the World ranking and 5th on the continental ranking. However, Bafana midfielder, Andile Jali said their pre-tournament friendly matches clearly indicate that they are ready for the tournament.
Bafana played three preparatory friendlies against Zambia, Cameroon and Mali. They beat the Zambians 1-nil, drew 1-1 with Cameroon and walloped Mali 3-nil.
“After the match with Mali, I can safely say we are ready for the tournament. The way we played today showed that we can hold our own against the big guns,” Jali said.
“The three oppositions we played in the preparations will help a great deal in that the three teams in the competition also play different styles, so for me this was ideal preparation and we could not have asked for more.
“I believe Cameroon and Algeria play the same attacking game, so our friendly against Cameroon was a masterstroke for us in preparation for our opening match against the North Africans.
“The first match in any tournament is very important – you go there to win, a draw should be the worst result but just don’t lose it because it sets the tone for the tournament. If you lose the first one you will be playing under pressure in the remaining two. We do well in the first one, and then we are on our way to better things,” said Jali.
Only the top two finishers in all the groups will advance to the knock-out stages. Asked to comment about the national team’s history of flopping in international tournaments, Jali said: “We are not here to prove a point, but to show that South Africa can also play and has a lot of talent. We are here with more confidence that we will be successful and we are very positive”.
Bafana Bafana left South Africa on 7 January for their pre-tournament base camp in Gabon. - SAnews.gov.za
