The national team’s former coach is backing current coach Gordon Igesund to come good against five-time World Cup winners Brazil when the two meet in a friendly match in Johannesburg on March 5.
Under Clive Barker, South Africa lost 3-2 and 2-1 to Brazil and he thinks it was the lack of experience that denied the Bafana Bafana what could then have been historic wins.
“I believe in both matches, first at FNB Stadium when we lost 3-2 having led 2-0 at halftime and secondly at Ellis Park in the 2-1 loss, we could have come up with better results had we had a bit of experience,” he said.
“One of the biggest short-comings is to give too much respect to your opponents. Yes, Brazil have a star-studded team but that means nothing once you walk onto the pitch,” he added.
“This is a big match for everyone. It is every player’s dream to play against world beaters like Brazil and I think that inspiration will drive all players to go all out.”
Brazil will be using the match to launch their 2014 World Cup playing kit. They will use the home kit in the opening half and change into their away kit for the second half.
“We are using the match as a handover of the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts to 2014 hosts,” said SAFA president Dr Danny Jordaan.
