www.ebonyvives.blogspot.com is live in Uyo
The South Africa national football team – the Bafana Bafana – are quietly confident they will get a good result against the Super Eagles of Nigeria on Saturday in Uyo.
They should be confident after naming a new coach in Stuart Baxter, the man who engineered their only win against the Eagles (though inconsequential), and also looking at the last two results between the two countries.
Even though the Rainbow country has never beaten the most populous African country in a competitive match, their last showing in Uyo when Sone Aluko’s late equalizer salvaged some pride for the Eagles, is an ennobling thought for the team.
The new captain, Thulani Hlatshwayo, 27-year-old Bidvest Wits, told Soccer Laduma that they would be faster than their Nigerian opponents who would come out onto the Uyo Stadium pitch on Saturday with a bit of a swagger.
“We know we are smaller than them as players‚ so we don’t want to play the long ball but catch them on the counter. They are big‚ but a bit slow.
“They do have that arrogance they carry around. We have to be humble and make sure we don’t give Nigeria too much respect‚ and not be scared of them.”
Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Peterside Idah, who now resides in South Africa, wrote on Twitter, “The match on Sat is a global war I hope the Super Eagles’ players understand this. Those of us Nigerians here in South Africa need it more.”
Another one of the expected starters for the Bafana Bafana on Saturday, Lebogang Manyama, has said the game would not be won just because the Eagles have the better-known players.
“We know what Nigeria is capable of, we know about all the stars they have on their team but at the end of the day it is 11 v11 and they are human beings like us, they are not unbeatable.”
Ogenyi Onazi, who is expected to lead the Eagles on Saturday, believes the encounter would be tighter than most Nigerians are expecting.
“The South Africans are very fast and mobile,” he said on a football programme on Thursday night.
“Some people have written to us that South Africa is our wife but it is no longer like that. They have improved and the game on Saturday would be difficult,” Onazi added.
We like his humility and the respect he is showing to our visitors – it is the Nigerian way, but Saturdays in this part of the world are normally set aside for marriages and other “Owambes”.
It would thus be noteworthy that the Eagles remarry the South Africans once again to regain the respect befitting the husband of the house.
Current Form: Nigeria [W-D-W-W-W]; South Africa [D-W-D-W-D]
Head to head
19/11/14 ACO Nigeria 2 – 2 South Africa
10/09/14 ACO South Africa 0 – 0 Nigeria
19/01/14 ANC Nigeria 3 – 1 South Africa
14/08/13 FRI South Africa 0 – 2 Nigeria
06/09/08 WQA South Africa 0 – 1 Nigeria
01/06/08 WQA Nigeria 2 – 0 South Africa
17/11/04 FRI South Africa 2 – 1 Nigeria
31/01/04 ACO Nigeria 4 – 0 South Africa
10/02/00 ACO Nigeria 2 – 0 South Africa
16/01/93 WCQ South Africa 0 – 0 Nigeria
10/10/92 WCQ Nigeria 4 – 0 South Africa
Prediction: Nigeria 4-1 South Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment