18 August 2017Bafana Bafana assistant coach Thabo Senong says he is confident his charges will be able to score the required goals to lead them to victory over Zambia in the second leg of the third and final round of the 2018 CHAN qualifiers.

The match takes place on Saturday, 19 August 2017 at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.

Kickoff is at 15h00.

The hosts have an advantage after scoring two away goals in the first leg that was played a week ago in East London (Saturday, 12 August).

South Africa has scored six goals in three matches and conceded only two – against Chipolopolo.

“Zambia has done well to score the two away goals, which was a bit disturbing for us but it’s all in the past we have another game to play. Zambia will probably be looking for a draw, maybe they will be defensive minded, or they may say we are playing at home let us be a bit adventurous – whatever happens they will be in a panic mode and might open up for us, so I still believe it’s going to be a nice encounter. I am confident we can get some goals in Ndola,” said Senong.

Bafana Bafana wasted no time when they arrived in Ndola and held their first training session on Thursday evening (17 August).

“The boys are looking very good and they know they are very close to achieving qualification into the CHAN tournament. Having done so well up to this point, they have no intention of giving up now – the fact we both want it badly and that makes it perhaps the most difficult match of the qualifiers – more so because the overall winner will play in Kenya next year.”

Senong will lead the team in the absence of head coach Stuart Baxter who is focusing his attention on the upcoming back to back 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde.

Bafana Bafana’s preparations have been hampered by the withdrawal of several players, but Senong says it won’t matter on match day.

Senong has 18 players in camp following the arrival of Cape Town All Stars defender Ricardo Ndiki on Thursday night.

Striker Ryan Moon was left behind after he failed to recover from an injury, while late replacements Siphelele Ndlovu of TS Galaxy (ABC Motsepe League) in Mpumalanga and Siyabonga Ngezana (Kaizer Chiefs) were withdrawn from the squad.

Ndlovu did not have travel documents while Ngezana was busy with exams and could not honour the national team call-up.

“Thankfully we have brought in players that are used to this kind of challenges, players that have managed to gel quickly so we can build a squad to take on Zambia and compete against them. It is the nature and beauty of this game – that you combine a team quickly and make sure they are prepared,” concluded Senong.

Zambia head coach Wedson Nyirenda is under pressure to do well in Ndola because since his appointment last September, Chipolopolo has lost both matches they played at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.

They went down 2-1 to Nigeria and lost 1-0 to Mozambique.

The home side can qualify for the Kenya tournament with a goalless or a 1-1 draw. South Africa needs to win to stand any chance of proceeding to the tournament, which runs from 11 January to 2 February 2018.

BAFANA BAFANA SQUAD vs ZAMBIA 2ND LEG CHAN

NO. PLAYER’S NAME CLUB
GOALKEEPERS:
1. Steven HOFFMAN Platinum Stars FC
2. Bruce BVUMA Kaizer Chiefs FC
 DEFENDERS:
3. Mario BOOYSEN Mamelodi Sundowns FC
4. Malebogo MODISE Mamelodi Sundowns FC
5. Kgotso MOLEKO Kaizer Chiefs FC
6. Sibusiso KHUMALO Kaizer Chiefs FC
7. Ricardo NDIKI Cape Town All Stars FC
8. Roscoe PIETERSEN Ajax Cape Town FC
MIDFIELDERS:
9. Jabulani SHONGWE Bidvest Wits FC
10. Jamie WEBBER Stellenbosch FC
11. Sphelele NTSHANGASE Black Leopards FC
12. Sibusiso KUMALO Mamelodi Sundowns FC
13. Masilake PHOHLONGO Ajax Cape Town FC
14. Wiseman MEYIWA Kaizer Chiefs FC
15. Linda MNTAMBO Jomo Cosmos FC
STRIKERS
16. Bonginkosi NTULI Mamelodi Sundowns FC
17. Tshegofatso MABASA Bloemfontein Celtic FC
18. Dumisani ZUMA Bloemfontein Celtic FC