Once again, I was stoked to receive another late call up. Both times it has really caught me by surprise, but it is always an honour to represent my country and I'm always willing to jump at the last minute to support our nation.
Once again, I was stoked to receive another late call up. Both times it has really caught me by surprise, but it is always an honour to represent my country and I'm always willing to jump at the last minute to support our nation.
I was actually in Cape Town when I received the message, so I had to quickly make a plan to get the earliest flight to Jozi (Johannesburg). It was quite a mad rush and I had to say goodbye to friends and family a lot faster than I’d planned, but I’m just happy I managed to get to camp in time and that everything worked out smoothly in the end.
Yes, being in the Bafana camp really motivates me to continue to work hard, especially as I am yet to get my first cap.
While being with Bafana is a huge motivation, it can also be a humbling experience. Most of the players play week-in-week-out at their respective teams but, when you come to camp, many of us have to sit on the bench and fight really hard for a spot on the team. It’s a good reminder that you still have areas to improve and that the hard work has to continue.
The Bafana Camp this time was a lot easier to adjust too as I was able to get familiar with the players, coaches and technical staff in the previous camp. It’s always nice having a teammate with you, but I think it was easy to adjust regardless. That is also credit to coach Hugo Broos for creating an environment where players feel comfortable and relaxed.
Our match against Zimbabwe was a bitter sweet game. We managed to get all three points but if we are honest, we didn't play well. Although we’ll take the three points, our aim was to score as many goals as possible and we felt we should have and could have done better.
I unfortunately was randomly chosen for doping tests after the game so I missed out on the post-match celebrations, but it seems like the hotel welcomed us well and even sang a few songs with the guys.
“Tebza” (Teboho Mokoena) is a brilliant player and I’m not surprised he won Man of the Match award in that game. He has consistently been one of Bafana’s best players and I’m so happy to see him get some recognition. We always make jokes about his head so it was great to see him use it to score!
We know that playing away in Africa is never easy, but our intention is to go there and get all three points. We did not play defensive football against Ghana or try and squeeze a draw, because we know that approach so often comes back to bite you. Irrespective of the result, we are going to wait for FIFA and a positive judgement will help us to make our country proud!
Jesse Donn SuperSport United Football Club Midfielder