One Team One Nation, says Bafana captain

An update from Aaron Mokoena, Bafana team captain, ahead of the 2010 World Cup Kick-Off

Bafana Bafana has enjoyed passionate support from the South African fans following a series of inspirational performances ahead of the long awaited 2010 World Cup, and that was welcomed by the team captain Aaron Mokoena at a packed media briefing in Johannesburg on Saturday (22 May) morning.

“It was good to see the fans supporting Bafana Bafana in the last friendly match. But I was more impressed by the performance of the guys who played Thailand and they showed that a lot of hard work has been put in. Many of the players have shown a lot of improvement, which means the camps in Brazil and Germany were good for us. It shows that we really wanted to prepare properly. And as for the mood in the camp it’s been great since I arrived here and we want this to continue to all the games we are going to play,” said Mokoena 

The Bafana Bafana defender added that while Thailand was not as strong, the upcoming matches will not be easy.

'We are here to represent our country'

“Bulgaria is a very good side, and they have one or two players playing in England. They (Bulgaria) and every country that we will be playing ahead of the World Cup are very important for our preparations. These nations will want to make a mark because they will be playing the hosts of the World Cup tournament – and that’s what we need, those tough games to help us prepare well,” added Mokoena.

He criticized the media for using the terms “overseas-based and South African-based players. What we are trying to create here is One Team One Nation. We are all South Africans here and using that term is not good for the country because as players we are here to represent our country. We are the hosts of the World Cup, isn’t it time we used the term One Team One Nation,” said the captain.

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