Santana 'focused' on Bafana

Santana says he is the coach of South Africa and wants to think about nothing else. “My work is in Africa. I respect the opponents, but I don’t really care about them because I am now with Bafana Bafana. Why would I change my heart after spending 45 days in camp with the players – the likes of Teko Modise, Tshabalala (Siphiwe), Kagisho (Dikgacoi) and others,” said Santana. The Brazilian also revealed that South Africa have been dealt a huge blow with the absence of midfield strongman Macbeth Sibaya.  The player will miss the clash against Brazil after he picked up two yellow cards in the group stages of the tournament. “Yes, it is a huge blow, but I have capable players – maybe I will start with Tshabalala or Mashego (Katlego) or Mphela (Katlego) or Fanteni (Thembinkosi), I don’t know I will see the players at training,” he said. The coach has also stressed that the team needs as much support as possible for the difficult mission ahead. The coach will have a full compliment of players to choose from as the squad has been given a clean bill of health. Meanwhile, leading Brazilian stars Maicon and captain Lucio, have described Bafana Bafana, ‘as having a fast game’. The Inter Milan rightback Maicon said: “We know South Africa. We’ve seen their games on TV and they’re a very quick team. We need to be on our guard because they could give us a nasty surprise.” Bayern Munich central defender Lucio agreed. “Yes, they’re very rapid and they’ll have the fans behind them too,” he said. Brazil demolished Italy 3-0 at Loftus on Sunday night to finish top of Group B with three victories, having scored 10 goals with three against. While it is the Selecao’s much-vaunted attack, including Kaka, Robinho and Luis Fabiano, that has been most talked about as a threat to Bafana, Brazil also gave a superb defensive performance against Italy. “That’s two games we’ve gone now without conceding a goal and we’ve also been very effective up-front,” Maicon said. “That’s what makes this such a rewarding win for us. Scoring three goals against a top team and not conceding any is quite an achievement.”