What Bafana need is more pace - Davids

Lance Davids has blamed too much "Diski football" for Bafana Bafana's current woes, adding that the domestic game is often played at far too slow a pace to match up to modern European football.

The Bafana midfielder is well placed to make a comparison, having joined SuperSport United from Swedish side Djurgardens in January.

Davids had a far less successful stint than expected at Matsatsantsa, flitting in and out of the side as SuperSport went on to retain their title. And he admits he found it difficult to adjust to the erratic Absa Premiership pace.

"I found the way of training and playing here so much different," he said at Bafana training on Wednesday.

"In the PSL you play one good game, at a good tempo, but the next game is very slow. It's like against Pirates, the game is up and down, attacking and defending, but against a team like Bloemfontein Celtic, the game just completely slows down.

"In Europe every game is at a high tempo, no matter who you play against. But in Mzanzi, it's all 'Diski football' - too many tricks.

"Coach Joel Santana said it's like the Brazilians, only we do it in a way that slows the game down. Against Portugal we were going from A to B and Portugal had already gone from A to C.

"It's not just this, we are also not scoring enough goals."

It was a refreshingly frank assessment from the 24-year-old utility player who many considered pretty fortunate to make the Confederations Cup squad, having had such a disrupted season at SuperSport.

"I got a red card (against Pirates) and then I got injured. Gavin Hunt is an honest coach; it doesn't matter who you are - if his team is winning, he will stick with them," said Davids.

Davids did, however, return for SuperSport's title-clinching goalless draw with Santos in Stellenbosch and says he's fully fit for Bafana's preparation for the Confederations Cup.

"I am 100 percent," he insists.

Davids admits to not knowing much about Iraq and New Zealand - Bafana's first two opponents at the tournament - though he remembers Ama-glug-glug beating New Zealand in 1999 to reach the Sydney Olympics. "I am sure they will both come to upset the host nation," said Davids.

European champions Spain, South Africa's final Group A opponents, have won 20 out of their last 21 internationals and pose the ultimate challenge for any team.

"We'd better win our first two games," says Davids with a wry smile. "But you never know what can happen in front of our home crowd."

Poland on Wednesday named a 22-man squad for their upcoming visit to South Africa to play friendly internationals against Bafana Bafana and Iraq. Poland will play Bafana on June 6 at Orlando Stadium and Iraq on June 9 in Cape Town.

SQUAD

Goalkeepers:

Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal)

Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)

Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warszawa)

Defenders:

Marcin Wasilewski (RSC Anderlecht)

Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)

Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos CFP)

Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warszawa)

Bartosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)

Jakub Wawrzyniak (Panathinaikos FC)

Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)

Midfielders:

Mariusz Lewandowski (FC Shakhtar Donetsk)

Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warszawa)

Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)

Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)

Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)

Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)

Strikers:

Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)

Dawid Nowak (PGE GKS Belchatow)

Euzebiusz Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)

Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)

Marek Saganowski (Southampton FC).