Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba says they must look forward and aim for more after beating Zambia 1-0 in an international friendly at Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon. An 81st minute strike by Thuso Phala ensured the hosts extended their unbeaten record to eight matches since ‘Shakes’ took over.
Mashaba said they must not drown in these kind of achievements, but must put it behind them, look forward and aim for more, because if we dwell on the past it will cause problems.
“It is a good record but it’s all in the past, we have to now work hard and win the AFCON tournament, then we can start dreaming of the World Cup,” said Mashaba.
“We have set standards for ourselves, we have given the impression that we can make it all the way to the top and we can only achieve that by winning games.”
Both Bafana and Chipolopolo used the match to prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea which starts later this month (17 January to 8 February 2015).
Mashaba added that the 2012 AFCON champions played very well because all their players wanted to impress the coach and make the final team to the tournament.
“To take them lightly will be very dangerous because the score was not a true reflection of the match, they did very well – they showed character,” added Mashaba.
“Fatigue was starting to take its toll on our players in the last 10 minutes or so, with the defence complaining about muscles.
“But we are happy we managed to get that goal, and this was a perfect send-off for the team. It was a good thing to put a smile on the faces of the fans.”