Bafana Bafana may have beaten Norway on Saturday, but Joel Santana still has a lot to sort out before the side will be a force to be reckoned with, writes iafrica.com's Khaya Ndubane.

The first thing that the Brazilian mentor must sort out is his defence as they looked ordinary on Saturday especially when defending the set pieces. It was from one of these set pieces that Norway equalised through Morten Pedersen before super sub Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the winner for Bafana in the dying minutes.

Bafana's inability to defend set pieces may prove costly when they meet countries like Spain, Brazil and Italy who all have free kick specialists. The sooner Santana sorts out this weakness the better.

The second thing that Santana needs to sort out is his attack. Games are won by the number of opportunities you convert and failure to seize on those will cost Bafana.

One would argue that South Africa need Benni McCarthy to finish off the chances created by Bafana Bafana, but I tend to disagree with that. How many goals has McCarthy scored for the country since he came back from a self-imposed exile? Was McCarthy not in the squad that Ted Dumitru selected for the African Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2006 where Bafana Bafana humiliated the country by failing to score a single goal and failing to register a single point?

In Bernard Parker, Santana seems to have found an answer to his team's scoring woes, but Parker is not an out and out striker. He needs a strong target man to feed from and Santana's plan to use Mabhuti Khenyeza for this role does not yield the desired results. Khenyeza has been given four chances to shine for Bafana, but he has so far failed to deliver.

Santana has players like Katlego Mphela and Katlego Mashego to choose from, but they seem to be far down the pecking order with the likes of Surprise Moriri — a midfielder — being used as the target man.

The last thing that Santana needs to stop is showboating. Granted, fans go to the stadiums to be entertained but it is the same fans who will end up crucifying the coach for bad results.

Bafana have this tendency of taking their foot off the peddle once they have scored and that again may prove costly against countries like Spain who will seize on any opportunities that come their way.

Brazil is a classic example of how to mix skills with results. The Brazilians play beautiful and entertaining football, but they use their skills to create opportunities, not to make fun of their opponents.

The sooner Bafana players learn to use their talent for the benefit of the country, the better!


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