Gould and Xulu in to bolster defence

Gordan Igesund says tightening the defence is his main concern for Bafana Bafana's World Cup qualifier against Central African Republic (CAR), one of the fastest movers in the Fifa rankings in the last three years.

Igesund has reacted to Bafana's schizophrenic defending at the Africa Cup of Nations by axing out-of-form captain Bongani Khumalo for Saturday's match at Cape Town Stadium. "We need to be a lot tighter," the coach said. "Morgan Gould's back and I've brought in Siyanda Xulu.

"I've watched Xulu's tapes. The Russian league has just come back from its winter break, but he was man of the match in the first game."

Any result but a win would all but end Bafana's already slim chances of qualifying for Brazil 2014, following opening draws at home to Ethiopia and away against Botswana.

In 2010, CAR were ranked 200 in the world. Last year they knocked Egypt out of the Africa Cup of Nations before losing 3-2 on aggregate to eventual finalists Burkina Faso in the following round. They are now ranked 52nd.

That is eight places higher than SA in 60th. Bafana will be wary of a similar fate to Egypt, who lost 3-2 to CAR in Alexandria in June for their first home Afcon defeat since 1965.

Igesund said CAR are tall, physical, and like to man-mark and keep the ball in a similar fashion to Bafana's Afcon quarterfinal opponents Mali, whom SA lost to on penalties.

"I've watched the tapes of CAR's away and home [a 1-1 draw] games against Egypt and they are very useful. They're in second place in our group, which is a motivation for them.

"Their defenders are all over six feet tall. We have to do what we did against Mali, and get behind CAR and turn them. That's one of the reasons we chose Cape Town. The guys really enjoyed our game against Norway there [a 1-0 defeat], on the wide pitch."

Le Mans forward Hilaire Momi, 22, who scored two of the goals in Alexandria, is CAR's best-known player. The skill David Manga showed in threading a run into the Pharaohs' area before scoring the winning third suggests the Israeli-based midfielder will be a danger.

Igesund admitted concern over Bafana's away matches against CAR (June 7) and Ethiopia (June 14). SA complete their campaign at home to Botswana in September.

He said physical CAR will be hard to break down on a small home ground in Bangui while Ethiopia might have been tactically naïve at Afcon, but won admirers for their attacking play. In Addis Ababa, the Walia Antelopes will pose an intimidating prospect.

Ethiopia - who face Botswana at home next Sunday - lead Group A with four points, though they end their campaign with a tough away match against CAR.

It is likely to go down to the wire for Bafana to reach the final round of qualification. But only if they manage a win on Saturday.