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| Mind the holes: Igesund and Parker training yesterday |
GORDON IGESUND has revealed he will play former Orlando
Pirates striker Tokelo Rantie and Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands
for the first time in the must-win friendly against Kenya tomorrow night.
The Bafana coach, under pressure just three games in to his
reign after the 1-0 loss in Poland on Friday night, refuses to buckle,
insisting: “I always said the first four games would be about looking at the players,
coming up with a settled squad for AFCON in January. That is my priority.”
Igesund also revealed how two key players – in-form Kaizer
Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and Orlando Pirates centre-back Siya Sangweni
– had both suffered injuries while training at Nairobi’s national stadium.
A distinctly grumpy Igesund, speaking to Robert Marawa on
Metro FM, said: “The conditions are not the greatest, it’s a very, very bumpy
pitch.
“Siya Sangweni and Itumeleng Khune both hurt their ankles.
There are holes everywhere. Both are treatable. Siyabonga will be okay I’m
sure.
“I’ve asked for sand to be laid down, fill the holes up. It’s
not great. I want to avoid injuries to our players and the opposition.
“Training today wasn’t great, the ball was bobbling. But it’s
raining quite hard, so I’m hoping it won’t be so bumpy for the game. It might
make it easier to keep possession.
“I’m definitely going to make changes, this is our whole
plan for the first four games. I need to look at players, this is our last game
like this.
“If we can get 75 percent of the team ready, great. We haven’t
got any combinations yet. We haven’t had chance to decide how we
counter-attack, defend, shuffle across. Our dead-balls… we haven’t done any of
that yet.
“I want to turn this squad in to a unit, a team before
January.”
Igesund, who lost 1-0 in Brazil and beat Mozambique 2-0
in his first two games in charge, knows a win tomorrow night is imperative with Kenya ranked a lowly 128th in the world and 27th in Africa. Bafana are currently listed at 76 by FIFA and 19 by CAF, putting them 10th among the 16 qualifiers for AFCON 2013 in South Africa next year.
Igesund confirmed: “I will change three of four players. I’ll definitely start with
Sandilands in goal. Rantie has to get a shout, I have to look at him. He’s the
type of player I have to consider, he gets in behind defenders, he’s got pace,
he’s got strength, he’s looking good in training.
“I won’t make too many drastic changes, I want to do well.
Delron Buckley, with his experience, uses the ball properly, he will definitely
get a chance tomorrow.”
Though Igesund bemoaned the injuries which have left him
experimenting at right back, he added: “I won’t make too many changes in
defence. We’ll look at Sangweni overnight. I’ll probably start with the same
two centre-backs, Sangweni and Bongani Khumalo.”
Controversial selection Ricardo Nunes, the left wing-back
born in Johannesburg and now playing his football in Slovakia, is likely to get
another chance to prove his worth for the nation he left as an eight-year-old.
Igesund said: “Ricardo
puts a great ball in to the area. I think that’s where the game will be won
tomorrow. We need to get the ball in there and get the big lads challenging.
“We’ve still got quite a bit of work to do. We will get
better, obviously we will get better. We haven’t started coaching yet, the
combination plays. We will create more chances.
“I wasn’t quite happy with the amount of chances we created Poland.
All these little situations, every game is telling us more about our players.
“Dean Furman and Kagiso Dikgacoi I’m very happy with in
midfield. They can both play as holding players. KD is getting forward for
Crystal Palace in England… and in training. One can stay, one can go. We haven’t
worked on these situations at the moment.
“I need sooner rather than later to get the bulk of the
squad sorted out.
“It’s a good atmosphere here at the moment, everybody wants
to play. That’s a very good sign, the attitude in training is good. Working
hard, encouraging each other.
“The most important
thing is when a team-mate respects you. That’s a big start, that’s what’s
happened so far.”
Igesund revealed how he’d had a “familiarisation” session
with his players while in Kenya, explaining: “I was watching training and I
realised they didn’t know each other’s names. They were going er…er…er when
they called for the ball. It’s normal. Some of them have never met before.
“It’s important they share rooms, find out if their
team-mates married, got kids, hobbies. It’s all part of building a team that
can work hard for each other, fight for each other. I want them to become
friends, know that they’ve got each other’s back.
“It’s normal they didn’t know each other. When Rantie,
Ndlovu came, certain players didn’t know each other. They were just whistling.
They are very new to each other.
“I have given some thought to the teams that have qualified.
When AFCON starts on January 19, we have to be ready for everybody, Ghana or
Nigeria. There are a couple of big guns up there. Senegal getting knocked-out
wasn’t a surprise. Cameroon was a bit of a shock.
“But the gap has closed, the teams in Africa are much closer
together. It’s about playing well as a team, how badly do they want it?”
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