Mkhalele hoping to overturn two-goal Angola deficit in CHAN qualifier
After losing to Angola away from home in the second round, first leg CHAN qualifier clash last week, coach Helman Mkhalele has backed Bafana Bafana to overturn the deficit.
South Africa will welcome the Angolan side at Dobsonville Stadium this afternoon (15:00) instead of the initially proposed Orlando Stadium.
Bafana head into the match 2-0 down after they were outplayed by the southwestern Africans in Luanda a week ago.
Goals from Daniel Kilola and Jaredi Teixeira in either half of the match sealed the victory for the Angolan side.
“We are looking forward to today’s game, hoping to overturn the 2-0 deficit we conceded and fight our way to qualify for the 2023 CHAN tournament,” Mkhalele told SAFA media.
The side held their first training session with a complete squad (24 players) yesterday, after having a limited number of players for most of their second leg camp.
“It is not going to be an easy challenge because today will count as the first time having a full squad training together, having reconvened this past Thursday. We will use this time to do everything in our power to ready the team and push for the desired result,” he added.
“This is the sad part and a reality we’ll have to deal with right here at home because teams are not obliged to release players. These CHAN qualifiers are played outside the FIFA/CAF calendar.
“Be that as it may, we were hoping to get some cooperation from our clubs to release some of their unused players on time. We do not blame the teams, but one would have thought, looking at where Bafana Bafana is now, that we would pull together to rebuild the Bafana Bafana brand to a level we all believe it could be in. I was hoping for some form of compromise (from the clubs).”
Before the first leg encounter, Mkhalele had stated that Bafana would have to be wary of the threat posed by Angola, adding that the visitors have been playing together for a while now.
“Looking at Angola, they have been together for quite some time. These are the best players they have selected from their elite league that we’ll be playing against on Sunday. They have been together since the COSAFA Cup tournament, moving into the CHAN qualifiers as a unit. This has not been the case with us, though, hence I say a bit of a compromise from our respective clubs in getting players early for our camp could have gone a long way for us,” Mkhalele said in his closing remarks.