One of the characteristics of Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba’s latest tenure in charge of the national team has been the huge swing in fortunes of the side whether they play at home or away. As they prepare to face Burkina Faso in a World Cup qualifier in Ouagadougou on Saturday‚ their away record in competitive fixtures makes for pleasing reading‚ especially compared to playing in front of their own fans.In matches played away - so not including the 2015 African Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea or the friendlies on neutral grounds played just before it - Bafana have won six and drawn two of their nine games.This is an excellent return given that any match played away on the continent these days should be considered a difficult fixture.By contrast‚ the national side have only won three of their 11 competitive home games‚ with an astonishing six 0-0 draws thrown in there‚ showing their difficulty in breaking down visiting teams. South Africa’s wins on the road during Mashaba’s tenure have come in Sudan‚ Congo‚ Mauritius‚ Angola (twice) and Gambia‚ while they have also drawn in Nigeria and Cameroon.Their only defeat was the off-day they had in Mauritania when they went down 3-1 in a Nations Cup qualifier last September.Their success largely stems from the fact that they have a team well suited to the counterattack who enjoy playing in the space behind the opposition defence that is created when the home teams move forward to attack.When Bafana are at home‚ teams tend to sit back and put men behind the ball‚ making it much more difficult to break them down and they have‚ at times‚ lacked the quality in personnel to do that. In the 11 home competitive matches they have played‚ they have managed just seven goals and conceded four.Contrast that with away when they have netted 21 times in just nine matches and it is plain to see that when given space to operate‚ this Bafana side can be a match for anybody. And Burkina Faso will know all too well the importance of home wins in what is likely to be a hotly contested qualification pool‚ suggesting they may play a more expansive game in Ouagadougou.Their coach‚ Paulo Duarte‚ will know all too well the dangers Bafana pose. It will come down to whether his side is able to play the way they want to while keeping the backdoor firmly shut. – TMG Sport..