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Former Thembisa Classic and Maritzburg United striker Edward Sadomba has advised Bafana Bafana to expect high temperatures and a vociferous home crowd when they face Sudan.South Africa will face the Falcons of Jediane at the 42 000-seater Al-Merrikh Stadium in Omdurman at 17h00 (GMT) in the opening Group A match of the 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers on Friday (Today).
Sadomba, who spent three-and-a-half years at Sudanese giants Al-Hilal — who are based in the same city where Friday’s match will be played — is familiar with conditions in that part of Africa.
“The weather will be the biggest challenge for Bafana Bafana because Sudan is very hot, plus it is very difficult to win in Sudan as a visiting team,” Sadomba tells KickOff.com.
“Bafana Bafana will definitely not have it easy in that stadium because the stadium will also be packed. They support their football by going to the stadiums in Sudan and Friday will be no different.
“They will rally behind their team throughout the 90 minutes of the game . . . that crowd will really make Bafana feel that they are playing away.
“I really hope they have prepared for the hot weather conditions as temperatures average 35 degrees Celsius there.
“Luckily the pitch is natural grass instead of the artificial surface used by many African countries,” says Sadomba, who now turns out for Al Ahly Benghazi in Libya.
On the quality of the Sudan national team, Sadomba warns that they are a solid unit whose cause is helped by the fact that they are familiar with each other.
Ten players in the squad to face Bafana have been drawn from Sadomba’s former team Al-Hilal.
“Their national team is always largely made up of players from their domestic league, especially the big two clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Merreikh. With most of the players coming from the same club it means they already have combinations and playing against African opposition is something that they are familiar with because those two clubs play in the CAF Champions League every year.
“They play a 4-5-1 formation and their strength is in their unity and the fact that they are very difficult to break down.
“Bafana should watch out for their top striker, Mudathir Careca, who I played with at Al-Hilal. They also have the dangerous pair of Mohammed ‘Bisha’ Ahmed and Muhannad Tahir in midfield.
“I also played with these two at Al-Hilal,” adds Sadomba.
Sadomba is currently back home in Zimbabwe after being forced to return due to the political mayhem prevailing in Libya that has led to domestic football being brought to a halt, with the country also forfeiting its rights to host the 2017 Nations Cup finals.
The experienced forward played for Thembisa Classic during the 2004 / 05 season and played for one more season after the franchise was bought by Maritzburg United.
He then signed for Bidvest Wits in 2009 but due to foreign quota issues at the club he never played and was immediately sent on loan to Sudanese giants Al-Hilal via Liga Muculmana of Mozambique.
The 31-year-old has spent the last four years earning top dollar at well-paying clubs in Sudan, Libya and the United Arab Emirates. — KICKOFF.
Online Reporter