16 November 2019 – Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki has declared the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sudan as a must-win match.
South Africa come into the match following a 2-0 loss to Ghana in the opening match of the campaign, while the Sudanese defeated Sao Tome e Principe 4-0 in the other Group C fixture.
Bafana Bafana and Sudan meet on Sunday, 17 November 2019 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
Kickoff is at 15h00.
“I have told the players that the game against Ghana is behind us, there is nothing we can do about it. Yes, we are not happy with the loss but we can’t change the result, so we have to focus on what is ahead of us – and this time it is Sudan,” said Ntseki.
“We are playing in front of our fans, we lost three points in Ghana, and now we must come out firing on all cylinders against Sudan. We need to be aggressive from the first whistle because in the qualifiers if you don’t win your home games you are as good as not making in the to the next stage. We have suffered a setback but now we need to get our campaign back on track.”
This will be the third time the two sides meet and South Africa has won both previous encounters, but Ntseki is not taking that for granted.
“Football is a funny game – if you don’t pitch up on the day you will go home empty handed. We have to forget about the past results and work in the present,” added Ntseki.
“We have selected 25 players that we have confidence in, so there will be some changes to refreshen the team a bit as we also take into consideration that there was some heavy travel in between – for us this is a must-win, no other results will matter.”
As matters stand, Bafana Bafana are in third place in the group, which is led by Sudan and followed by Ghana. Sao Tome e Principe is bottom of the table.
Both Sudan and South Africa had their final training sessions on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts are ranked 71stin the world and 13thon the continent compared to Sudan’s 190 and 51 positions respectively.
SUDAN FACT FILE:
- Sudan is one of the oldest teams in Africa and has a rich history in the past 50s to 70s
- Sudan were one of the three teams to participate in the inaugural Africa Cup of Nations in 1957, the other two being Egypt and Ethiopia
- They won the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations as hosts
- They went as high as 74 in the FIFA rankings (128thranked)
- Sudan was the only East African team to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations
- That was their last appearance in the tournament held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea – they finished in the quarterfinals
- Have never been to the FIFA World Cup
- Sudan’s home ground is Khartoum Stadium in Khartoum
SOUTH AFRICA VS SUDAN HEAD-TO-HEAD
P W D L GF GA
2 2 0 0 5 1
5 September 2014
v Sudan 3-0 (Vilakazi 54’, 60’, Ndulula 79’)
African Nations Cup Group A qualifier
Al-Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman
[Thulani Hlatshwayo, Erick Mathoho, Dean Furman – all three played in that match]
Coach: Ephraim Mashaba
15 November 2014
v Sudan 2-1 (Serero 38’, Rantie 53’; Ibrahim 77’)
African Nations Cup Group A qualifier
Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
[Erick Mathoho, Dean Furman capt., Thulani Serero – the trio featured in that clash]
Coach: Ephraim Mashaba