Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki

New Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki. 9 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Bafana bafana latest: Ntseki pins shock defeat on COVID-19!

Bafana bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki believes COVID-19 played a crucial role in his side’s failure to qualify for the upcoming AFCON in Cameroon

Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki

New Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Ntseki. 9 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki has explained some of the reasons behind his side’s shock failure to qualify for AFCON 2021.

The equation was simple for the national team, avoid defeat against lowly ranked Sudan and Bafana’s spot at AFCON 2021 in Cameroon was secured.

Things however went horribly wrong for Molefi Ntseki’s side in their final AFCON Qualifier against Sudan on Sunday evening in Khartoum as they went down 2-0 against their opponents.

We didn’t have our regular players – Bafana Bafana coach

Bafana had to do battle without the likes of Bongani Zungu, Keagan Dolly and Thulani Serero due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and Ntseki believes this played a crucial role in his side’s loss.

“We need to be honest with ourselves in terms of the challenges coming into the Ghana and Sudan games, because of Covid we could not get our regular players.” – Bafana head coach Ntseki explained.

“With the players who we brought in that did well against Ghana, we were looking forward to having those players against Sudan, and they were recused from the team because of injury.”

It’s a big disappointment – Ntseki

“The success of the team is my success, and the failure of the team firstly starts with me, to say: ‘I have failed as a coach’, because in football we need to own up.

“When there is success, you become everybody’s favourite but when there is failure, you become and orphan and everybody looks at you and says, ‘You failed the team; you could not qualify Bafana.’ But things like this do happen in football, and we own up. It’s a big disappointment for myself.”

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It’s back to the drawing board for the national team with the crucial Fifa 2022 World Cup Qualifiers looming.

Bafana have now failed to qualify for four out of the last seven AFCON tournaments and the unhealthy condition of the beloved national team has once again come under scrutiny.