Bafana Bafana cannot lose to Tunisia if they want to seal their last-16 spot
Bafana Bafana need only one point against Tunisia in their African Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group E clash tonight to make sure they can stay in Ivory Coast longer and play in the last 16.
Stepping onto the turf at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium at 10pm, coach Hugo Broos and his South African charges are in second place on the log and Tunisia down in fourth.
With two points separating the two teams, a desperate Tunisia outfit will overtake SA if they win the match to secure their spot in the play-offs. Losing, coupled by a point for Namibia against Mali in the group’s other match at the same time, will see SA finish fourth in the group and exit the tournament.
Finishing third –if they lose and Nambia go down as well – means they still have a shot at making the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams in the tournament.
A draw would give Bafana four log points, meaning it will be enough to better that of Ivory Coast and Ghana, who finished third in groups A and B with three and two points, respectively.
Coach Hugo Broos has done the math and says: “Our first goal was to achieve the second round to pass the group stages. There is a chance for us to do so …
“We will fight every second to have a good result. What is a good result is not losing against Tunisia, to be certain of the next round and that was our goal.”
Defender Grant Kekana adds: “The guys prepared well, everyone is confident and looking forward to [the match]. It’s a big game, we don’t want to go home early. So we’re going to try our best to get a positive result [against Tunisia].”