Warrior for Africa

12 November 2015 - 02:09 By Tshepang Mailwane

He might struggle to get on the score sheet in domestic football, but striker Thamsanqa Gabuza is still a player many a local coach would want on their side when facing African rivals outside the country. The striker regularly finds his goal-scoring feet when playing against an African side, be it for Orlando Pirates or Bafana Bafana.Last year Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba relied heavily on Bongani Ndulula being his big man upfront, but the Kaizer Chiefs striker is apathetic in the box and is a little slack in dealing with defenders - unlike Gabuza.Gabuza, who was Bafana's best player and scored the only goal in the 3-1 defeat to Mauritania in September, will make life difficult for Angola when the countries meet in a 2018 Fifa World Cup first-leg qualifier tomorrow.The match will be played at Ombaka National Stadium in Benguela."You can see that [Gabuza] believes in himself," former Bafana striker Phil Masinga said."It's very important to have a big striker upfront. It helps a lot when the team is under pressure. He can hold the ball and players can feed off him."Masinga feels it would be best for Bafana to have Bidvest Wits midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi playing as a second striker to support Gabuza."Vilakazi is the one who can play around him. I am not sure about the match fitness of Tokelo Rantie because he has not been playing. Maybe the coach can even play Dino Ndlovu."Gabuza scored in a 2-1 victory over Angola in Cape Town in June.The second-leg tie against Angola will be played in Durban on Tuesday...

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