Tshepang Mailwane: Aubrey, let’s start by talking about Bafana Bafana. How does it feel to be back in the national team?
Aubrey Modiba: The last time I was part of the squad was during the (2019 Africa Cup of Nations) qualifiers. It’s an honour to be back and it feels good. It shows that there’s something I’ve been doing good and the coach (Molefi Ntseki) could see that. It’s not easy to make it into the national team because there are a lot of good players in the PSL and abroad. So, it feels great and I’m just happy to be back. Now it’s up to me to be a regular by working hard and making sure that I help the country.
TM: How important was it to get the 1-0 win over Sudan for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign?
AM: I think it was an important win for us. We’ve got three points and it gives us a boost going forward because we need to collect as many points as we can in order for us to qualify for Afcon. I think it was a massive win for us, even though I feel we could have won by a big margin. But a win is a win and three points is the most important thing after our defeat against Ghana, so we had to bounce back and win the game.
TM: Going into the game against Sudan, what was the message from coach Molefi Ntseki, as it came just a few days after the defeat to Ghana?
AM: He just told us to put the defeat against Ghana behind us because we can’t dwell on that. We needed to focus on the next game, which was Sudan. We watched their games, analysed them. The coach told us that we win some games and we lose some. Unfortunately, we happened to be on the losing side against Ghana. I think the build-up played a big role in us coming back from that defeat.
TM: What would you say went wrong in the 2-0 defeat to the Black Stars?
This story is from the 20 November 2019 edition of Soccer Laduma.
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This story is from the 20 November 2019 edition of Soccer Laduma.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
We have a problem
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