PSL start will help Bafana Bafana – Ntseki

Molefi Ntseki, coach of South Africa chats with players during the international friendly match between South Africa and Zambia

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Oct 13, 2020. 13:00

South Africa national team coach Molefi Ntseki says that the start of the country’s 2020-21 domestic season will help Bafana Bafana improve for next month’s key matches.

Ntseki’s team looked short of match fitness in their outings during this international window, a 1-1 draw with Namibia and 2-1 loss against Zambia.

Bafana cannot afford similar results in November when they have must-win back-to-back clashes against Sao Tome & Principe in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] qualifiers.

Ntseki believes that the resumption of the Premier Soccer League [PSL] – which gets underway this coming weekend with the MTN8 quarterfinals, followed by the first round of the DStv Premiership the following weekend – will allow Bafana players to gain match fitness and sharpness.

“In terms of performance, we are not happy with ourselves, but there are many factors that contributed to this type of performance,” Ntseki is quoted by Sowetan Live.

“We lost a striker in the first minute of the game and it became a setback because we had to change our tactics. Our players are also not at the level where they can play for 90 minutes.”

The Bafana boss added, “We must be a better team physically in the next match. Locally, the PSL is starting next week and coaches and trainers will prepare the players so that we can benefit from the physical side of preparations. We will be ready to compete and win the two matches.”

South Africa are placed second in Group C of the AFCON qualifiers, having claimed three points from their opening two matches. Ghana top the group with a full haul of six points.