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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
It's been an eventful week for Bafana Bafana who won the Nelson Mandela Challenge by beating Norway 2-1 in Rustenburg and then lost 2-0 to Portugal in Switzerland. With less than three months remaining before the Confederations Cup, Project 2010 asked team manager Sipho Nkumane for a progress report.  Bafana beat Norway convincingly in the blazing heat at Royal Bafokeng and then seemed to freeze against Portugal in Lausanne. Was the weather a factor at all? No, we don't want to make excuses. We were mentally and psychologically prepared for the Portugal game. I had been over here three weeks ago to inspect the stadium, the facilities, the weather, so no, we weren't caught off guard. Obviously, there were other factors….like we didn't have the same line-up as Saturday. With less than two months remaining until the Confederations Cup, how much of a setback is it for the squad? There is no setback. When we played Chile, we learned valuable lossons. Technically, they were very good. Portugal were also very good. When they scored that early goal, many people thought they would bury us, but they didn't. Remember, this team is ranked 10th in the world and they had Ronaldo and Moutinho. They had the advantage, but they didn't capitalise. I concede that our finishing was not strong. Has Benni McCarthy and the fact that he has once again dropped out of the squad impacted on morale at all? Not at all. We are playing as a team with a fantastic strike force. The team has now won five of their last seven matches. Is this reflected in the confidence levels? Yes it is. The most important thing for us is to continue playing some of the top teams in the world - this is lifting our game and our confidence levels. more interviews...
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