- Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki is confident of his team's chances of qualifying for the 2021 African Cup of Nations despite their draw against Ghana.
- Bafana's performance was patchy and they wasted opportunities against a second-string Black Stars unit.
- Bafana Bafana need to avoid defeat against Sudan on Sunday to ensure passage to the Cameroon-hosted event.
With Bafana Bafana again choosing to take the last chance saloon path to qualify for the 2021 African Cup of Nations, their coach Molefi Ntseki decided to take the philosophical approach to explain how they'll get to Cameroon for the showpiece.
In drawing 1-1 against a second-string Ghana side in their Group C encounter at the FNB Stadium on Thursday evening, Bafana must avoid defeat against Sudan in Omdurman on Sunday to qualify for their second consecutive Afcon tournament.
Bafana has played in extremes and not converting goal-scoring opportunities. This was the case in the Ghana game, where goal-scoring opportunities weren't used effectively.
With Ghana having qualified, Sunday's game is an eliminator where the loser will be a spectator.
South Africa has a better head-to-head against Sudan so that a draw will suffice, but a win will be first base.
Having watched his side stutter to an unexpected result against a weakened Ghana side, Ntseki retained confidence in getting the required result in Omdurman.
"When you're faced with a storm, you can't turn and face the direction of the storm. You must be very strong, so the storm can be over. With all the challenges since I took over, they have made us strong and made the whole team believe in each one of us," Ntseki said.
"If this continues like this, it means we're going to qualify. Qualification will be a big celebration for all of us, and the players want to better the position that we're in now. The cohesion in the team will grow if we play in Afcon and the World Cup qualifiers, and the brotherhood in the team will definitely become better."
Having beaten Sudan 1-0 in November 2019, Ntseki is aware of the task that lies ahead of his team, but they know what to expect from the hosts. Ntseki said they've put in the necessary preparation to ensure they come back with a positive result.
"We know what to expect in Sudan. It's for them to lose, and they will be coming at us with the quality we have in the team; we already have a plan. It's a two-pronged plan, which is why we brought in 26 players for this camp. In this game, they executed the plan very well, and I'm also happy because we didn't have much time to prepare," Ntseki said.