Furman: We're disappointed

Cape Town - South African midfielder Dean Furman bemoaned his side's lack of composure on the ball after their defeat to Mauritania.

As it happened: Bafana slump to defeat in Mauritania

Bafana Bafana were handed a heavy 3-1 defeat at the hands of the 114th-ranked side to sit bottom of the AFCON 2017 Group M table.

"We are very disappointed; the game did not go according to plan." Furman told SAFA website after the game.

"We found ourselves a goal down very early on and wanted to weather the storm. I felt we controlled the game but we were sloppy with the ball, tried to break down a team that had all the players seating behind the ball waiting for a counter attack.

"Our ball retention and use of the ball had to be far better than what we displayed on the day. Credit must also go to Mauritania, they played well managing to catch us on the counter attack with their second and third goals and the sending off which turned the game into their favour even more. We are highly disappointed with the result and it is important for us to put it right as soon as possible."

Furman believes Siyabonga Zulu's debut red card, swayed the match in the hosts favour after Bafana Bafana started the second period as the brighter side.

"We started the second half in the ascendency with much of the play in their half." said the SuperSport United midfielder.

"The sending off did sway things a bit in their favour especially because we were chasing the game. So it made things more difficult but I think the boys started fighting back and we picked up a little bit and we managed to get the equaliser which was a well-worked goal, just a pity that we couldn’t hang on to the point."

The former Bafana Bafana captain is confident the team has the capabilities to put the AFCON 2017 qualification campaign back on track.

"It is truly a disappointing start looking back at the last qualifiers where we were top of our group from the first couple of games so to be in a different position, at the bottom of the group is not where we want to be but we have the ability, the talent, and the team to put things right and that’s what we have to focus on going forward." added Furman.

Furman says his team-mates are aware that we four games left in qualifying, only the right results will do. 

The 27-year-old midfielder says it is important for Bafana Bafana to learn from the defeat so that the team can "make sure it doesn’t happen again."

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