Must-win Afcon clash for Bafana

Bafana Bafana have a solitary point in group M after two matches. Meanwhile Cameroon top the group.

The sides will meet for their first ever encounter in Cameroon. The clash in Limbe is all or nothing for Bafana – as a loss will rule them out of qualifying for next year’s competition.

With the squad assembled in camp this week, there was an air of confidence ahead of the clash. Despite the pressure of needing a win, defender Thulani Hlatshwayo insisted that they have Cameroon’s number.

“It’s going to be a tough game but we are positive about it. We’ve played Cameroon before so we know what kind of a team they are. We’re looking forward to it, we have to go there with a positive attitude,” Hlatshwayo said.

“We’ve played them before and we drew. They started with their strongest team and mixed it up in the second half. So we know which players to look out for, but we have to focus on ourselves.”

The Bafana squad features a number of overseas based players while much of the team remains the same. 

“Three or so guys have been added to the setup so it’s the core of the team we had when we qualified for Afcon. We know each other so the confidence is good.”

It also seems that Bafana want to put previous years of disappointment behind them.

“We’ve had some bad runs then coach Shakes took over and now we’ve had a good run, some good form and we qualified for Afcon. We have set the standard high and we have to maintain that.”

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