Bafana in Cameroon After Travel Trouble

Bafana Bafana's preparations for their 2014 World Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic are back on track after a bit of an adventure in reaching Yaounde, Cameroon just before midnight on Wednesday. The squad had to endure a long and tiring five-hour road trip by bus after a connecting flight was cancelled.

The South African team spent Tuesday night in Douala, Cameroon after the cancellation of their connecting flight to Yaounde. Local authorities said it was not on the schedule, but the South African Football Association (Safa) insisted that it had paid fully for the airfare.

A second flight was set to depart on Wednesday afternoon for Yaounde but was also cancelled. The explanation was that the plane was stuck in the Cameroon capital and needed to be fixed and would be available from 22:00 on Wednesday evening only.

Road trip

Bafana coach Gordon Igesund took the decision to take the squad on a road trip to avoid further delays as a lot of preparation time had been lost due to the first cancellation.

"Waiting at the airport for the next flight was not an option as there were no guarantees that it would arrive, and we didn't want to find ourselves stranded again in the middle of the night, so we had to think on our feet and make a move," Igesund explained.

"It is very frustrating to have to go through such things, but I had warned the players that we should expect them. But thank God we have arrived safely and the players are in high spirits. The saga is behind us and we don't want to make any accusations. We must just look forward to our mission.

'We are here to do a job'

"At the end of the day, we can't look back, we can't harp on this matter - life must go on. We are here to do a job and we will do it to the best of our ability," he said.

Igesund said the most important matter was for Bafana Bafana to get to their base safely and start with their preparations.

"The fact is that it is not the ideal preparation, but we will not allow it to upset us. What is done is done.

"We have a responsibility to our country to play this match and we have to be strong. We will make sure the players are ready for Saturday, and this setback will only get to us if we allow it to, so we won't do that."

Well prepared

Captain Itumeleng Khune weighed in on the debacle, saying: "Obviously we are very disappointed, but as professionals we have to get on with it. Fortunately the coach had prepared us well mentally.

"We are here for one thing - that is to play the match and win it. We will accept what happened and move forward.

"We were just worried about the road because we don't know the area very well and driving such a long distance at night could be dangerous, but I am glad we have arrived safely.

He concluded: "We are aware all South Africans were worried about the safety of the team and we would like to thank them for their concern."