Former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker is backing current coach Gordon Igesund to come good against five-time World Cup winners Brazil when the two meet in a no-holds-barred encounter at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg on 5 March 2014.

Under Barker, the Senior National Team narrowly lost 3-2 and 2-1 respectively, to Brazil of which he said lack of experience denied 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,” said the Black Aces mentor.

The seasoned coach said one aspect which Bafana Bafana have to bear in mind was, regardless of names, it would be 11 men against 11 men.

“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.

Barker said he was impressed by Igesund’s boys when they beat Spain at the same venue late last year and said he was expecting a repeat of those heroics from the local boys.

“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.”

The match kicks off at 19h00 and tickets are going for R50 (upper tier), R100 (lower tier) and R200 (middle tier).

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.

Bafana Bafana will also be launching their new limited edition Nike kit on the night.

“We are using the match as a handover of the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts to 2014 hosts,” said SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan.-TDN
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