Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - Minutes before Bafana Bafana’s opening 2018 World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso at the Stade du Aout, goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was suffering from a upset stomach. If you witnessed his Man of the Match performance in that 1-1 draw on Saturday night, then let that sink in for a second or two.
“Since 5am (on the day of the match) I was going to the toilet every now and then,” Khune explained. “I had to drink Coke (a soft drink, which usually works as a remedy for an upset stomach) at the last minute because the doctor gave me a lot of tablets, but they couldn’t help. I thought the drink would be the only way to help. Everyone was getting worried and the guys were asking me how I was feeling. I was weak, but they said they need me because I could win them the game and I realised I needed to do well.”
It must have been something he ate. What the goalkeeper, who made his 80th appearance in a national team jersey at the weekend, doesn’t quite reveal is that Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba was ready to leave him out of the starting line-up, with Jackson Mabokgwane and Brighton Mhlongo as alternatives.
Khune saved a Jonathan Pitroipa penalty 10 minutes into the match, and earned the respect of the Ouagadougou locals after a few more acrobatic stops to keep Bafana Bafana in the game. Unfortunately he missed out on what would have been his 40th clean sheet.
“When we watched the Burkina Faso videos from their previous game, I noticed that Pitroipa always goes to his left (the right side of the goalie) when he takes penalties. So I told myself that if they get one and he takes it, I know where he is going to put it,” Khune said.
“But what I was not sure of was whether he would go low or high. You just have to make a choice and stick with it. Fortunately I made the save, even though the penalty was so early and the incident that led to it was actually outside the box, but the referee and his assistant didn’t get a good look.”
Khune’s heroics were almost rewarded with a clean sheet and all three points when midfielder Dean Furman scored with 10 minutes left on the clock, but referee Redouane Jiyed from Morocco added four minutes of optional time. With Burkina Faso putting Bafana under pressure and having missed yet another penalty, this time sent over the bar by Alain Traore late in the second half, Khune was beaten by a Banou Diawara strike with the game all but over.
“I think we deserved better. More than a point,” Khune said. “We just switched off at the last minute and defended too deep. They were just playing long balls to (Aristide) Bance and he was just heading them down to his teammates and we couldn’t pick up the second balls. We have ourselves to blame for this draw. But this team is beatable. They have great individual players, but I am not convinced that they play as a team.”
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The Star