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Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has insisted they have put the visa saga behind them, explaining why a one-day delay in their departure wasn’t a big deal as far as adapting to altitude is concerned.Bafana left South Africa for Mexico at midday on Monday after failing to depart on Sunday, the initially planned day of departure, due to the failure to secure US visas for a number of players and support staff. The national team faces Jamaica in their last warm-up match in Pachuca on Friday before locking horns with one of the hosts, Mexico, in the Fifa World Cup opener at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11 in what will be a repeat of the 2010 World Cup opener on home soil. The US and Canada are co-hosting the global spectacle with Mexico until July 19.“Those problems [the visa saga] are behind us and we are focused on what’s coming,” Broos said.“We are one day late, but that can’t influence the adaptation to altitude. If it was two or three days it would have been a problem. It’s not really a problem that we were a day late.”Broos stressed the importance of their friendly against Jamaica, who are ranked 14 places below them in the world. Pachuca, where Bafana will be based in Mexico, has an altitude of 2,432m while Johannesburg is 1,753m above sea level.“The friendly against Jamaica is something we needed. We played against Nicaragua last week, but the time between that game and the first game against Mexico was too long, so I am happy with Jamaica. “They [Jamaica] are ranked 74th, so they’ll be good opponents. For us it will be the last test before the opening game.”Broos provided an injury update on his first-choice left-back Aubrey Modiba, who was included in the final squad despite a niggling hamstring injury.“I think Aubrey is very close to training with the group if everything goes well with him, but maybe not for the game against Jamaica. We will not take any risks with him.”Jamaica failed to qualify for this World Cup after losing a playoff final to the Democratic Republic of Congo in March.
