BAFANA Bafana coach, Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba, put up a brave face yesterday, defiantly showing he is still in charge despite mounting rumours that he might be axed this week.
Weekend reports suggested that Mashaba could wave his cosy Bafana job goodbye after tonight’s Nelson Mandela Challenge tie against Egypt at Orlando Stadium (7pm).
When SunSport posed the question on the speculation that he is on his way out, Mashaba responded: “I don’t read newspapers. I know nothing about that. If there is somebody out there that wants to tell me something, they must come to me.”
Make no mistake, however, Mashaba’s future is hanging in the balance.
The media were told at yesterday’s briefing in Milpark that Mashaba would not answer questions on his future. The media were further ordered to only direct questions to under-fire Mashaba about tonight’s Egypt friendly. Questions about his future would be answered by the coach after tonight’s game.
SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan did not hide the fact that he was unhappy that Bafana failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Gabon in January.
Jordaan emphasised that he was even more distressed by Bafana’s lacklustre 1-1 draw with minnows Mauritania in their final Afcon qualifier played at Mbombela Stadium last Friday. The result saw Bafana end third in Group M behind Cameroon and 104th ranked Mauritania.
Instead of coming up with a better reason for their poor showing, Mashaba recomposed the song about “poor finishing”. He hinted, however, that he would be making changes.
So unpredictable is Mashaba that it has become hard to guess who could be compromised. Thamsanqa Gabuza, to name one player, has been underperforming.
Mashaba is set to let loose free-scoring winger Keagan Dolly against the more physical Egyptians, who are one of the teams that qualified for the 2017 continental showpiece in Gabon.
Dolly, who missed the Mauritania match through a hamstring injury, said he was fully recovered, had been training and was ready to play of the coach.
“If I get a chance I know what is expected of me,” Dolly said.
He backed the beleaguered Mashaba: “We as players must also shoulder the blame. We all support the coach. We need to be calmer and show more composure inside the final third. We get too excited in front of goal and tend to rush our shots.”
Bafana midfielder and former skipper Dean Furman got straight to the point on why Bafana failed to qualify for the Afcon finals: “Collecting only three points from three home qualifiers is, sadly, not good enough. We have to win our home matches.”
He said Bafana would have to improve against the Pharaohs: “Egypt are a top side and we will have to raise our game.”
Bafana defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele said: “We have to bring our scoring boots, as Egypt are one of the big boys in Africa.”
