While David Obua is still reeling from the fact that he and his Ugandan National team mates narrowly missed out on the opportunity of being amongst the 16 countries who will doing battle at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations which kicks off in the West African Nation of Ghana on the 20th January, the lanky midfielder who even managed a hat trick in Uganda’s final qualifying game against Niger, will nevertheless be watching the Nations Cup with keen interest, and in particular will be keeping an eye on the progress of his Amakhosi club mate Siphiwe Tshabalala, who will be running the line for Bafana Bafana at the nations cup, in what will be his second consecutive outing at the Nations Cup following up on his appearance at the 2006 tournament in Egypt.

Obua believes that the experience Tshbalala gained from the last tournament will stand him in good stead when he turns out for Bafana Bafana in Ghana in just under a month’s time. The past year has been a tough one for Tshabalala who has had to battle multiple injuries, it is just that his ability to overcome adversity that Obua feels helped convince Carlos Alberto Parreira that he could not leave the left footed midfield genius out of his touring party for Ghana.

Tough customer

Obua who left for his festive holidays recently spoke to kaizerchiefs.com prior to his departure about the impact that he believes Tshabalala will have on the tournament in Ghana and added. “Having a player like Siphiwe in your team is a great plus, he is a creative genius and he has the ability to work his way into the kind of positions where he is out of nothing able to create a way towards goal for the team. A guy like him cannot be ignored if South Africa are to do well a lot will rest on how Siphiwe does, having spoken to him I can see that he has the hunger and desire to help his country have a prolonged stay in Ghana”.

Accomplishing the mission

With Siphiwe performing consistently well as the year closed out for The Amakhosi, it was a further indication according to Obua that he will be able to do the business for Bafana Bafana in Ghana. As Obua went on to explain, “we saw through the Telkom Knock Out Cup that he can at any moment ignite and produce the spark which will boost the rest of the team. Siphiwe is the kind of player who battles the full ninety minutes for the team and he does not let up, he scored a couple of goals in our last few league games and it shows that he can create goals and also has the ability to finish well”.

Experience Counts

In Bafana Bafana’s group at the Nations Cup they will be facing formidable opposition in the form of Angola, Tunisia and Senegal, given the fact that he has been to one nations cup he will have the necessary credentials to know what to expect of the teams he will be up against according to Obua. Who said “there is no doubt that South Africa have a tough assignment in Ghana, I know Siphiwe he is the kind of player who is not daunted by an task and he is really confident in his abilities. He knows what these games will be like, he does posses the skill and the know how to be effective against all three of these teams”.