Bafana Bafana ready to reset against Cameroon, says midfielder Sithole

Bafana Bafana midfielder Sphephelo Sithole says the team understands where they have fallen short at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and is confident they can address those issues ahead of their last-16 clash against Cameroon on Sunday at the Agdal Medina Stadium in Rabat (9pm kick-off).

South Africa advanced to the knockout stages for a second straight tournament after finishing runners-up in Group B behind record seven-time champions Egypt. 

Their reward is a clash with Cameroon, AFCON champions in 2017, a side eager to move beyond a stage that has troubled them in recent editions.

Although they accumulated six points in the group phase, South Africa’s performances have drawn criticism, particularly when measured against the impressive displays that secured their return to the Fifa World Cup for the first time since 2010.

Sithole has been ever-present in midfield, featuring in all three group matches, and has played an important role in the team’s structure. He admits that both individual and collective improvements are required, stressing the need for a return to the fundamentals that had previously brought success.

“It wasn’t a start that I would have wanted, but I know what I need to do and where I need to improve,” Sithole said ahead of the match.

“For the team, we haven’t been in good form in comparison to the past two years, and we spoke about it as a team and told ourselves that we needed to go back to basics to return to where we were in the last two years.

“From now on, we know that if we lose just one game, we will be heading home. We will need to improve in many aspects, and we will take it from there. 

“We need to go back to the basics; there were things we weren’t doing anymore, but from now on we are going to return to what had worked previously

Bafana’s group-stage campaign was highlighted by wins over Angola and Zimbabwe, but they now face a formidable opponent they have not encountered in competitive action for nearly a decade. Their last meetings came during the 2016 AFCON qualifiers, ending in a 2–2 draw before a goalless second leg.

With either hosts Morocco or Tanzania awaiting the winners in the quarter-finals, Sithole maintained that the squad remains fully focused and unconcerned about the identity of their upcoming opponents, placing trust in their collective strength rather than individual reputations that comes with the teams they face.

“If you look at the way we are playing, it is just in patches, and we know that we are a team that likes to dominate games for the whole 90 minutes. 

“Lately that hasn’t been happening in the past three games, and we want to improve on that, and we know we are capable of it.

“We know that we can beat anyone that we come up against, so there was no preference on who we came up against.

“We do not know how they are going to approach the game, but we know them and have analysed some of their games. We are strong when we play as a team, and that has made us one of the strongest teams in Africa. We do not look at individuals from the opposition.”