Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says they are not thinking about the points deduction but fully focused on getting the job done and booking their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In what seemingly looked like a forgone conclusion for South Africa to qualify in the final two games, with a three point lead over Benin, they have now dropped to second due to the Teboho Mokoena suspension saga.
FIFA handed down a 3-0 defeat, overturning the 2-0 win in which Mokoena was suspended, but fielded in an administration oversight from the national team.
The Cheetah’s who face Rwanda and Nigeria, both away, in their final two games are ahead of Bafana on goal difference, but South Africa understand convincing wins, starting with Zimbabwe tomorrow, can see them overturn the goal-difference dillema.
“I wasn’t good news, but there’s nothing we can do about it, we need to control what we can and that is the next two games, and we still have an opportunity, a big opportunity, so we know how important it is,” Williams said.
“Either way these two games [Zimbabwe and Rwanda] were still going to be important, where we’d need to get the job done, I think it’s okay. We haven’t spoken about it, we don’t have to because we can’t do anything about it now.
“We rather focus and put our energy into the next two games. If you see the energy in training, you can see it’s a team that means business.”
Williams says the labels of being favourites against the Warriors and Rwanda, with both games being played in Mzansi – means nothing but shared insight into the mentality that’s been fostered within the group, currently unbeaten in their last 22 games.
“At the end of the day [the favourites tag] doesn’t matter, the important thing is to show up and get the job done, and I think you have seen that over the past two years, where people have put high expectations for the team now,” Williams said.
“We just do what we can do, we control what we can control, that’s the mentality, the brotherhood, the team spirit and most importantly over the 90 minutes, to show up, get the job done, play as hard as we can and not too much emphasis on the tags…
“Through good and bad times, we have learnt and grown as a team, we have come a long way as a team and we know what it takes to be at the top. We have tasted defeats, success, we want to stay on that road of success and just focus, and keep the team spirit, which has been important amongst us.
“Anyone who joins this group; the first thing they feel is that team spirit, the welcome they get, once that’s there, you stay calm and you can enjoy and play your football freely, you have seen that with young players coming in, they fit in and they can shine. We need to work hard, stay focused and get the job done.”
Zimbabwe host South Africa at Moses Mabhida Stadium tomorrow with kick off at 18h00.