Bafana complete preparations for Cameroon

Bafana Bafana have completed preparations for the all-important clash against Cameroon in the 2017 Gabon Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The South Africans trained at the magnificent match venue, the Stade Limbe Omnisports in Limbe, South West of Cameroon.

South Africa has one point from two matches in Group M which is led by Cameroon who are on six points. Mauritania is second with three points, followed by South Africa and Gambia.

The encounter with the hosts will be played on Saturday, 26 March 2016 and will kickoff at 15h30 local time in Cameroon (16h30 SA Time).

Bafana Bafana and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will meet again in the return leg in Durban on Tuesday, 29 March 2016 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Kickoff is at 19h00 kickoff.

“We are happy that we travelled with all the 25 players that we have selected and I should convey my greatest gratitude to the South African Football Association for ensuring no player is left behind. Getting us a charter flight to Cameroon and back was a masterstroke and really makes our travel, which is also part of preparations, smoother,” said Bafana Bafana head coach Ephraim Shakes Mashaba.

With a lot of injury scares in camp before the squad’s departure to Cameroon, Mashaba was delighted that he now has a full compliment of players to choose from.

“The likes of Andile Jali, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Anele Ngcongca, Thabo Matlaba and Rivaldo Coetzee were all nursing an assortment of injuries at the start of camp, and at some point I was scared that some players would not make it. But I must applaud our medical team for doing such a magnificent job of ensuring that all the players are back on the field and not on the sidelines as was the case at training this week,” added Mashaba.

“The flip side of the coin is that this gives the technical team a headache as to who to select for the match – but that is the kind of challenge I would rather have than one where I have no players to select because of injuries. I am just hoping that nothing happens at the last training session on Friday (25 March).

The boys know what is expected of them as they know the importance of these two matches. I am confident that we will return home with a positive result which will make for an even tougher clash back home, but we are ready for Cameroon. We are here to fight because we know we are not in a good position.”

This will be the first ever clash between the two nations in Cameroon.