Bafana Bafana midfielder Sphephelo Sithole has admitted he and the team have “many things to improve on” if they want to go far at the current Africa Cup of Nations.
Sithole, 26, only returned to the Bafana squad in October after being sidelined with a serious injury for almost a year.
He has started all three games at the current tournament but was substituted at half-time in the 3-2 win over Zimbabwe. When analysing his and the team’s performances so far, Sithole was very self-critical but insisted the team have identified where they need to improve.
“For myself, it wasn’t the start that I expected of myself,” he replied when asked by iDiski Times about his AFCON reflection so far.
“I know what I need to do, where I need to improve.
“For the team as well, we haven’t been in the form of the previous two years. But we spoke about it among the group, and we told ourselves we need to go back to basics in order for us to go back to where we were in the previous two years.
“If we lose one game, we’re going to go home. So, we need to improve in many aspects and then take it from there.”
Sithole was also asked where exactly he feels the team has come short and insisted they need to raise “a bit of everything” in order to get back to their best.
“Everything,” he stated, when asked where they need to improve.
“Winning the duels on the ground, aerial duels, which will make our team play much better because everything starts in the midfield.
“If the midfield is doing well, there are so many things that can make the team to be stable.
“I think myself; I need to improve on that – a bit of everything sometimes.”
Bafana will face Cameroon in the Round of 16, and would meet the winners between hosts Morocco and Tanzania in a potential quarter-final.
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