ONE of the players who carried the hopes of Bafana Bafana in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Teko Modise, pointed to the form of Teboho Mokoena of Mamelodi Sundowns as the key for this national team to avoid being counted against the countries that left in the morning when the tournament has 48 countries.
Bafana have been placed in Group A of this tournament which is a few weeks away from Mexico, Canada and the United States of America (USA).
Despite the difficulty of the group, Bafana will open the competition by facing the host Mexico on June 11 at the Azteca Stadium, Mexico City.
After that, it will face South Korea, closing the group with the Czech Republic.
Since the World Cup has 48 teams for the first time in history, it means that 16 countries have been added to the usual number.
This means that there will be 12 groups in total, and the two countries that finish at the top of them (groups) will advance to the last 32.
It will also be filled with eight other countries that will finish in third place with better numbers.
Modise, who was speaking on SuperSport’s World Cup promotion program on Tuesday, was focused on the fact that Bafana have a chance as they will go through three countries in the group.
“I have no doubt that Bafana will advance to the last 32, but it all depends on not allowing the competition to turn us away from the way we want to play,” said Modise.
“If we agree that we will do everything the way we are used to, it will be the same as if we agree that Mokoena is the key.
“Mokoena is the engine of Bafana in this competition since he does this job successfully for Sundowns in important and world-class games with Bafana.
“The key for Bafana lies in Mokoena because being in his game wakes up players like Oswin (Appollis) and Lyle (Foster) to be able to use their speed.
“He has good passes and we all know that he doesn’t give up the opportunity to score. I’ve watched Bafana and Sundowns many times separately, that’s why I’m going with Mokoena as our key to getting us through this group.
“The teams we have played against are difficult, but this will not make us come face to face because the players, including Mokoena, are some of the most respected in the world for their contributions.”