South Africa coach Molefi Ntseki says losing to Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers was a wake-up call for his team which prepared them for their remaining Group C matches.
Ntseki and his men are set to host Sao Tome e Principe on November 13, before visiting the islanders three days later in their bid to qualify for the next Afcon edition to be staged in Cameroon.
Bafana Bafana opened their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 away defeat by the Black Stars, before recovering to edge Sudan 1-0 at home in what was their last competitive match in November 2019.
This has left South Africa second in Group C, three points behind leaders Ghana who so far boast a hundred percent record.
Ntseki insists that winning their upcoming matches is a “must” as they seek to topple the group leaders.
“We are fully aware that winning home and away against Sao Tome is a must. It being a must is not only about the performance, but also the mental side of it,” Ntseki told Soccerzone on SABC 1.
“As South Africa, we need to approach each and every game with a high level of aggression. We ended up depending more on flair and creativity. But when it comes to tactical endurance we tend to struggle.
“I think in the last camp we had, we worked on it and the response was very positive and we are looking forward to the next camp because we are placed second in the group. When we started, we said we wanted to raise the bar. Raising the bar meaning that we have to win the group.
“Unfortunately we started badly by losing 2-0 to Ghana and it was a wake-up call for us. We came back and we had very little time to prepare. I think the 1-0 win [over Sudan] was not a true reflection of the game, we missed too many chances.”
In preparing for the Sao Tome matches, South Africa were involved in October international friendly matches against Namibia, drawing 1-1, before being edged 2-1 by Zambia.
They were results not welcomed by Bafana fans but he feels the friendlies served their purpose in readying his players for competitive action.
“According to the friendly matches we had the last time, they were actually to drill [philosophy into the players] and work on certain aspects of the game,” said Ntseki.
“I must say thanks to the coaches because we are coming from a very difficult era in football. But I think we tried very hard. If you look at the games themselves, we conceded very late.”
On Monday, Ntseki named a 25-man squad for the upcoming Afcon qualifiers as be brought back experienced goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, midfielder Bongani Zungu, forward Bradley Grobler and Dean Furman.
