Shakes must let Dean lead Bafana

JACK MILNER

Who was to blame for Tokelo Rantie picking up the ball and deciding to take the fatal penalty in Bafana Bafana’s match against Algeria in Monday’s first round match at the Africa Cup Of Nations? It is clear there was no prescribed penalty taker, so did everybody just breathe a sigh of relief when Rantie put his hand up.

At the time South Africa was leading 1-0 and a converted penalty would have all but sealed it. But Rantie missed spectacularly and that gave Algeria a second wind and they went on to win 3-1.

This was coach Shakes Mashaba’s first defeat in 10 games, but perhaps his lackadaisical approach to the captain’s role could be part of the problem. Dean Furman, as expected, led the team, but perhaps if Mashaba took the captain’s leadership role more seriously Dean could have been in a position to make that decision.

When asked about this side’s feelings regarding Rantie’s penalty miss, the Doncaster Rovers midfielder said: “We won the penalty, TK (Rantie) picked up the ball, he’s our striker, he was confident, we had 100 per cent confidence in him, he went for the top corner, sadly it hit the top of the bar and went away. I’m sure if the next penalty arises, TK is a confident player and I’m sure he’ll be there with his hand up to take the next one.

“Listen, these things happen. We’re disappointed because that would have put us 2-0 up, into a very good position, but it wasn’t to be and we have to keep our heads up. We maintain we played very well tonight… just disappointed we didn’t react when they got their first goal back.

“We played against the top sides over the last few years and we have to be able to compete; one of the things that maybe changed the game in their favour was when they moved to a 4-4-2.

“They went a little more direct, up to the two strikers up front. I think that’s something we have to look at and maybe deal with a bit better.”

Bafana’s next game is against Senegal and Dean remains optimistic they can still pull off a win and progress to the quarter-finals stage. “We had worked hard for maximum points, so the next two games are very crucial for us. We have to lift our heads and go for a win and that’s all we need. The good thing is that we played some outstanding football out there but did not convert our chances, something we will have to rectify before our next match.”

The next two games are make or break for Bafana. They have to win both to remain in the mix.