Bafana Bafana midfielder Fortune Makaringe says his side have to be professional enough and keep their heads up ahead of their Cosafa Cup plate semi-final against Namibia on Tuesday.

South Africa were eliminated from the competition after losing 4-3 on penalties to Madagascar in the quarter-final at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday.

Makaringe says his side has to ‘keep their heads up’ ahead of their plate semi-final against Namibia following their defeat in the last eight.

“It is a huge loss bearing in mind that we are the hosts, and much is expected from us, so it is a very difficult thing for the entire team that we lost,” Makaringe told Safa.net.

“We are all professionals, we have to encourage one another and keep our heads up, and if we don’t do that we will be in trouble again and suffer another loss.”

The Maritzburg United credits his teammates after impressing on his Bafana debut and winning the Man of the Match award.

“It was a great feeling despite the fact that we lost, it would have been more meaningful though if we won the game, especially after the team played so well as a collective,” he added.

“It’s all credit to the whole team, I would not have done it alone, they complemented whenever I was doing something right, so all credit goes to the entire team.”

Bafana Bafana will next face Namibia in the plate semi-final at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday, with kick-off set for 17:00.

Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix