BAFANA BAFANA coach Gordon Igesund is roaring again. Less
than a week after seeing his side beaten 2-1 by a sensational own-goal in
Ethiopia, he says: “Our final game against Botswana means something again. We’ve
got to hope and pray. And win.”
Speaking on “Bollockz”, my brand new football show on Ballz
Radio, Igesund was back to his usual optimistic self after the defeat in Addis
Ababa which appeared to have left South Africa’s World Cup qualification dream
shattered.
The full interview is on video above, but here are some of
the highlights: “The Ethiopia defeat? You know it was one of those situations, unfortunately
for us like we’ve had since I started in this job, where we have to win every
game. This was no different.
“In the World Cup qualifiers I’ve been playing catch-up
every game. It was an absolute freak own goal that Benard Park scored against a
highly-motivated Ethiopia.
“We played with a lot of passion and more importantly, we’re
starting to get an identity, playing a brand of football which is effective for
us.”
Gordon and I spoke on the phone hours after the game – when the
FIFA website announced Ethiopia were to be investigated for using an ineligible
player in their away win over Botswana a week before.
Gordon, who won the PSL title with a record FOUR different
clubs, admits: “It came as a shock to me, before every single game, the match
commissioner will tell the opposition who is ineligible to play. That was done
and they chose to play the player.
“I’m not going to get over-excited about it, but we’re still
in with a bit of a shout. I’ve also heard about Ethiopia losing six points, but
I don’t want to talk too much about that.
“The player still hadn’t served his suspension when he
played against us. Like I said, I’m more worried about Botswana. All we can do is
win that last game.
“We don’t want to jump ahead of ourselves. The way it is
right now, this Beyene will have to serve his ban against the Central African
Republic. This is what we’re hearing. From our point of view, from SAFA point
of view, we’ll just wait and see.”
As for where Ethiopia’s final game will be played, Gordon
said: “We didn’t play CAR in Bangui because our soldiers lost their lives
there. It wasn’t a very good situation for football. That’s why the game was
moved to Cameroon, we had lost our loved ones. The country wasn’t stable
either.
“Now Ethiopia, if CAR is back to normal, have to play there.
Bangui is one stadium nobody likes going to. CAR haven’t lost there for two
years, including Nigeria and Egypt.
“We are building something here with the national team. We
had seven or eight injuries but we’ll see what’s available on September 6. We’ve
got the COSAFA Cup coming up to try new names. I don’t like chopping and
changing too much.
“At the moment, we’re doing things right. We’ve had some
tough times. Huge strides have been made with the players, the attitude… they’re
proud to play for their country.
“We’ve got another bite of the cherry. The nice things is
the Botswana game is going to mean something again. Now we’ve got to hope and
pray.”
BOLLOCKZ! My new show on www.ballz.co.uk. Tune in by live stream or app, from anywhere in the world, 10am-noon every Thursday. Follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol and see our backers www.topodds.com for the latest sports betting!
wow amazing level of denial! We love SAfricans but come on SAFA, it is over for bafana!
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