Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba said while South Africa has enjoyed past successes against Burkina Faso, he was not taking the upcoming FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifier for granted.

Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba said while South Africa has enjoyed past successes against Burkina Faso, he was not taking the upcoming FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifier for granted.

“This is not going to be a walkover. It will be tough but I believe we are mentally and physically ready to welcome any challenge,” said Mashaba who added that he was not interested in looking at past records.

The Bafana Bafana mentor said the team was not leaving anything to chance as starting with a bang in these qualifiers was priceless.

“You don’t want to play catch up as we did in the Africa Cup of Nations. We lost our campaign for Gabon in our two opening matches when we drew and lost to Gambia and Mauritania respectively. We have leant our lesson and want to stamp our authority from the word go,” said Mashaba.

The Senior Men’s National Team mentor said one thing he has leant in the past few years was that there were no more minnows in the world of football.

“Teams have regrouped and any country can these days beat the other. The issue of big guns is now a thing of the past,” he said.

Bafana Bafana leave for Burkina Faso on Tuesday, via Abidjan, Ivory Coast and arrive in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso on Wednesday.

They play the West Africans on Saturday at 20h00 and return home the following day.

They will arrive at ORTambo Airport at 20h00 on Sunday and fly straight to Durban for a friendly international against the Black Stars of Ghana on Tuesday, 11 October at Moses Mabhida Stadium. That match kicks off at 20h00.