{"id":191,"date":"2009-06-14T15:02:06","date_gmt":"2009-06-14T15:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/2009\/06\/14\/presidents-seal-of-approval-boosts-bafana\/"},"modified":"2009-06-14T15:02:06","modified_gmt":"2009-06-14T15:02:06","slug":"presidents-seal-of-approval-boosts-bafana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/presidents-seal-of-approval-boosts-bafana\/","title":{"rendered":"President’s seal of approval boosts Bafana"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
A visit by President Jacob Zuma to inspect his troops on the eve of battle has given Confederations Cup hosts South Africa a huge boost ahead of Sunday’s opener against Iraq, captain Aaron Mokoena said.<\/span> <\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

Bafana Bafana (The Boys) go into the Group A confrontation with the Asian champions at Ellis Park in high spirits with, according to their Brazilian coach Joel Santana, no injury worries despite a lingering question mark over Teko Modise’s fitness. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

And the charismatic South African head of state’s seal of approval at a Saturday morning training session has only heightened spirits in Santana’s squad. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

“President Zuma made our day,” Mokoena told a press conference. \u00a0 \u00a0“For him to take time out from his busy schedule to wish us the best of luck meant a lot to the players. We hope to take that to the game and come out with a victory.” <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

Given South Africa’s recent mixed bag of results – they failed to qualify for next January’s African Nations Cup – many here believe it may take more than Zuma’s visit to ensure a decent Confed Cup run for the hosts. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

\u00a0Santana, whose defensive tactics are not to everyone’s liking, acknowledged
the road has not always been as smooth as Table Mountain. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

“We’ve had some difficult moments, our team has not always worked as well
as we’d have hoped, but they’re making a huge effort and this is a real serious test ahead, but we’re sure of what we can deliver. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

“There are great expectations – the expectations of the host before a party. This is an important moment for Africa and for this country and, of course, we want to play well.” <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

On his squad’s fitness, Santana, speaking in Portuguese, added: “All my players are fine. There were a few bruises this morning, but nothingm serious. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

We’re ready and we want this to start as soon as possible.” \u00a0 \u00a0Turning to the role the fans can play in the South Africans’ campaign, Santana said: “We want them (supporters) to vibrate with us, the fans are part of the show, it’s a question of liberating positive energies.” <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

“The vibe is now starting and the mood is there,” agreed Mokoena. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
“People can already see how the World Cup will be. It’s a great advantage
playing at home, but it’s a massive, massive tournament, this rehearsal for the World Cup and we have to go out and enjoy it and make sure we perform.” <\/span><\/div>\n

His words will be echoed in homes across the rainbow nation.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Source<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Cafonline.com\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A visit by President Jacob Zuma to inspect his troops on the eve of battle…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amagep.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}