Monday is D-Day in Bafana’s quest
[caption id="attachment_63968" align="alignright" width="199"] MOST CAPPED: South Africa's Bernard Parker - Picture: GALLO IMAGES[/caption]
SA have tough Nations Cup opening clash against Algeria.
South Africa begin their African Nations Cup Group C campaign with a meeting against top-ranked Algeria on Monday, hoping to extend a run of 12 matches without defeat. Their latest win, a 3-0 victory over Mali on Wednesday, will provide a boost in confidence for a squad that is among the least experienced ever for the country at a continental finals.
The squad of 23 players has a total of 393 caps between them, an average of 17 per player.
That number is dominated by Bernard Parker with 70 caps, the most experienced player in the squad ahead of next best Reneilwe Letsholonyane (52 caps), while the least, in terms of caps, is Ayanda Gcaba, who made his second appearance for the side against Mali.
The least experienced position is goalkeeper, with the trio having just 10 caps — Darren Keet has four, Brilliant Khuzwayo and Jackson Mabokgwane three each.
The team have scored 48 international goals between them, a number again dominated by Parker’s 23 strikes, with the player with the best scoring ratio being Sibusiso Vilakazi, who has netted four in 11 international appearances, including two in his last two games.
But if you narrow that down to goals in Nations Cup finals tournaments, the squad has scored just one – Tokelo Rantie’s strike in the quarterfinals against Mali in 2013.
In all, 19 players have got on the scoresheet at Nations Cup finals for Bafana, with the top three being Benni McCarthy (seven goals – all in 1998), Shaun Bartlett (six) and Siyabonga Nomvethe (five).
Their good recent form aside, Bafana’s record against their three Group C opponents – Algeria, Senegal and Ghana – does give some cause for hope.
They have had two previous meetings with Algeria at the Nations Cup, winning a quarterfinal 2-1 on their way to lifting the trophy on home soil in 1996.
The teams met again in the pool stages in 2000 when Bartlett scored after just two minutes as they played to a 1-1 draw and Bafana qualified for the quarterfinals. They went on to finish third that year.
