Posted in News on Sep 11, 2012.
Siphiwe Tshabalala said Bafana Bafana needed to bounce back from the loss against Brazil and beat neighbours, Mozambique when the two sides square up in what promises to be a thrilling encounter at an impressive Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Tuesday evening (kick off is at 20:30).
Bafana Bafana despite 1-0 defeat in Sao Paolo put on a decent performance against A Seleção last Friday in what was Coach Gordon Igesund first game in charge of the national team.
The game against Mozambique presents Bafana Bafana with an opportunity to return to winning ways at the stadium where they won their last game against Gabon 3-0 in a Friendly International, in June, with Siphiwe Tshabalala one of the scorers that evening. The Mambas caused one of the biggest upsets of the weekend's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by defeating Morocco 2-0.
“We picked up some good lessons against a very good team in Brazil but for us that game is now water under the bridge. We are now fully focused on Mozambique,” he told kaizerchiefs.com on Monday evening.
“They (Mozambique) are a very good team and they will want to cause an upset on Tuesday. It is important that we are at our best if we are to beat them. There are no easy games in international football and hence we are expecting Mozambique to come all out with ‘guns blazing’.
It was Shabba who scored Bafana Bafana’s first goal at Mbombela Stadium when Bafana Bafana beat Thailand by 4-0 leading up to the 2010 World Cup.
He recalled with a smile; “We have played some great football at Mbombela Stadium over the years. Personally I still enjoy every game I play in the national team jersey the same way as I did when I started out.
“I have of course scored a number of goals at Mbombela and hopefully I can help my team win the game because to me that is the most important thing.
“With World Cup qualifiers and the Nations Cup beckoning we need to show good performances in order to get the nation to rally behind us and we know that if we achieve positive results it will help our cause,” added the Kaizer Chiefs midfielder.
