SFAX – Bafana Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo is confident his side will thrive under the pressure they will experience in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Libya in Sfax, Tunisia, on Saturday.
Bafana need only a draw in this final Group E encounter to qualify for the Afcon tournament, which will be held in Egypt in June.
“We are fully aware of what this match means to the players, the entire travelling delegation, the association, the fans and the whole country,” said Hlatshwayo. “We believe we have what it takes to ensure that we get the needed result, however, we urge all South Africans to rally behind the team this weekend for this all-important game.
“We all know that Bafana Bafana is a team that can unite the nation and bring some positivity around the country – and that is why we need positive energies back home for us to do well against Libya.”
Off to our second training session of the day out in Tunis, Tunisia as we continue preparing for our last group stage match of @CAF_Online AFCON qualifiers pic.twitter.com/3cSdQZemLX
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) March 19, 2019
Hlatshwayo is confident they have the players to see them over the line and book their place in Egypt.
“Everyone is highly motivated in the camp and we know that we have a good chance of winning this encounter. We have conceded only one goal in five matches and haven’t lost a game in the qualifiers – which is an indication that we are doing something right, we just need to finish off what we started.
“We have to maintain our good form in defence, score the needed goals so they don’t even get a chance of coming back into the qualifiers – and, most importantly, stay focused the entire 90 minutes plus.
The good thing is that qualification is in our hands, they need to win to overtake us, we have come too far to let it slip, hence the support from South Africans will be key.”