Head coach of South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, Ephraim Shakes Mashaba remains hopeful that his side can still qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations despite failing to beat Cameroon on Tuesday.
The Rainbow Nation managed only to hold West African giants, Cameroon to a goal-less draw when a win was needed to improve their chances of qualification.
The result leaves South Africa in third place in their group, four points behind second-placed Mauritania and five behind leaders Cameroon.
Only the teams that finish top of their respective groups will progress to the tournament along with two best second place teams, but with two rounds of matches to be played, Shakes Mashaba thinks his South African side can still make it to Gabon.
“If we talk about the end of the road, it’s not the right thing to say,” Mashaba was quoted as saying by Sport24.
“We still have another six points to play for. We’re sitting on three points currently.
“If we win the next two games, we sit on nine and hope that we can get the two slots for the two second-best teams. We’re not going to throw in the towel.” the former Swaziland trainer added.
Bafana have consistently been criticized for their poor goal scoring record over the years and this is the main contributor to their lack of titles.
Reacting to the criticism, Mashaba said: “The problem of scoring goals doesn’t start here. Almost all coaches in the PSL, you’ll hear them after not winning a game, they’ll tell you that it’s the problem of not scoring goals.
“It’s not a problem now … it comes a long way this problem of not scoring goals. Maybe with time that will be sorted out, but not at a national team level. It needs to be addressed at club level.”
South Africa Can Still Qualify To AFCON 2017- Shakes Mashaba
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