South Sudan Head Coach Shilene Booysen, the former analyst for Banyana Banyana, believes that South Africa can lift the WAFCON title on Saturday despite the potential of playing in from of a partisan full house of Moroccan supporters.
But Booysen, who was a key member of Banyana’s technical team for many years, knows it will not be easy against Morocco as Banyana chase their first-ever WAFCON title.
Speaking to iDiski Times’ Lethabo Kganyago, Booysen said that the senior players will have to help the young players understand the magnitude of the game, and has said while it will be different, Banyana have played in front of big crowds, and volatile crowds in the past.
“Ja, that’s why I’m saying for Banyana, it has to be about bringing your heart with you,” Booysen told iDiski Times.
“And just the senior players in the team have to make sure that the younger players understand the magnitude of what this could do for the country, for themselves, for the players, for their families.
“I mean, they have to know that this exposure, I mean, we’ve played in Equatorial Guinea before where the crowds were against us, everything was against us. And we came out victorious. And, and that was huge.
“I mean, we’ve gone to the Olympics where there’s bigger crowds, but not as big, I don’t think we’ve ever played in front of a full house of home fans.
“I think this is going to be a first time and they are going to have to have hair on their teeth to face the Moroccans in their own home ground, in their stadium, playing in front of their crowd, with their people shouting for them, and being that twelfth man for them.
“It’s gonna be hard, but I think we can do it.”
