Bafana Bafana defender Thapelo Morena wants to see an improved performance from the team’s defenders in Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in Gqeberha.
Hugo Broos’ men are currently second in Group K after picking up four points from their two qualifiers so far against Uganda and South Sudan.
In their first game against Uganda at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, a number of mistakes in defence saw the visitors take a shock 2-1 lead. Bafana needed a late Thalente Mbatha strike to salvage a 2-2 draw.
Bafana Bafana players interact with fans who attended their training session at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Wednesday.
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Four days later, South Africa conceded after mistakes, and Mbatha came to the rescue again with a late winner.
This time, Morena wants his teammates to cut out the mistakes and ensure they do a professional job in their third qualifier.
“I think the most important thing is that the coach has given us information about opponents, and we’ve done our debrief so we know where we need to improve,” Morena was quoted by Safa media on Wednesday.
“We watched the Congo team playing. The most important thing is to make sure that we try and get our playing skills and structure right, we convert our chances. That’s the most important thing and the big one also is to defend very well, because that’s the main issue that we have been struggling with. But yeah, we need to do our level best to get the maximum points.
“I think we’ve been doing very well away, but the most important thing is to also do well at home. And if we win at home, the game is going to be open when we go for the second leg. So, what we need to also do like I said, we convert our chances and defend well. That’s the ultimate goal for us.
“And training has been very well, very good because coach has emphasised more on the level of attitude and whatever we’ve done through the past. He brought back the AFCON results showing us how we played and the goals that we conceded.
“From AFCON to now we doubled the numbers of conceding, so I think it’s something that we also as players looked into it. We speak as players, and everyone wants to improve in that and to give South African people hope,” Mamelodi Sundowns’s Morena said.
Bafana Bafana’s game against Congo at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Friday will kick off at 7pm.
IOL Sport