Rantie on penalty miss Bafana Bafana striker Tokelo Rantie was naturally disappointed to miss the penalty against Algeria but says he will not shy away from taking the next one if given the chance. Ranties 55th minute miss proved significant in a 3-1 loss to Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, with the Desert Foxes scoring all of their goals afterwards. Rantie said of the miss, which followed soon after Thuso Phalas opening goal: I take full responsibility. When we were awarded the penalty I just went for the ball as I felt very confident and did not even think I could miss it. I am very disappointed that it did not go in but as we all know it can happen to anyone in the game. No person steps up to take the penalty to miss. I am trying hard not to dwell on it because it will not help me move forward when I am given another chance to play. The penalty issue is gone and it’s time to move on. I am also glad I have teammates who understand that it could also happen to anyone. They didn’t criticise me even though they are disappointed that I did not score. If I take all the negativity of missing the penalty into the next match I will be failing my teammates and the whole squad as I will not be able to perform to the best of my abilities. Stressing about the penalty won’t help anyone. I just need to be mentally strong. But I am very excited about the next game. That is my focus right now. When asked if he would take the next penalty for Bafana if handed the opportunity, the Bournemouth man said: Most definitely, I will do so. That is how confident I am having learnt from my mistake. I know at the moment there is a lot of criticism for the miss, but it comes with the territory and as players we have to learn to accept that. But if you dwell on that you will only be destroying yourself and your career. The most important thing as I said is to be focused on the next challenge and try to do the correct thing. It is sad that people tend to forget the good things we players do but dwell on one mistake. I was happy with the responsibility I had of taking the penalty, but, again, I am very disappointed with the miss.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 09:51:39 +0000
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