Sports
South Africa Expects Tough Clash With Mexico
South Africa assistant coach Pitso Mosimane has given an insight into the type of football Bafana can expect from Mexico today, the opening match of the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
The former SuperSport United head coach was speaking after Bafana beat Denmark 1-0 at the Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium last weekend and he warned South Africans to expect a tough outing against El Tri.
Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira revealed recently that they have been sending ‘spies’ to watch Bafana’s group A opponents; Mexico, Uruguay and France. Mosimane admits from what he has seen himself of Mexico, Bafana’s 12-match unbeaten run will hang by a thread in the opening game.
“It will be a big tough game. You know how they play; they are more complex than what you saw against Denmark. They play 3-4-3 and switch to 3-5-2. They are very difficult to contain under those circumstances. They are so comfortable on the ball it is not funny! Their system is so confusing to their opponents that a 3-5-2 formation ends with six players in your own half when they are attacking. They are brave and they are risk-takers,” said ‘Jingles’.
“They are not afraid to throw men forward and that makes them dangerous, but for me the Denmark game was an ice breaker for us,” continued the 45-year-old.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.