Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena declares Bafana Bafana's 'real AFCON starts now' as Aubrey Modiba flags biggest concern ahead of Round of 16 clash with Cameroon

Bafana Bafana have advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, where they are set to face a daunting test against Cameroon. 

It promises to be a tough assignment for Hugo Broos’ side, who suffered a group-stage defeat to Egypt and beat Zimbabwe and Angola. 

South Africa showed vulnerability as they edged past Zimbabwe in their final group match, raising concerns about consistency. 

Midfielder Teboho Mokoena has admitted they must pull up their socks and raise their level against the Indomitable Lions.

Mokoena reflects on the games they have played in Morocco so far and narrows on the slim victory over Zimbabwe, where they had some nervous moments. 

The Sundowns star says their tournament has now kicked off as they prepare for the Cameroon challenge and the Mamelodi Sundowns man wants his team to improve.

“We’re happy as a team to go to the next round, I think the real tournament starts now… I think we have to improve, we have conceded so many goals already, so yeah, we need to improve on that, at least we’re scoring, so that’s good,” Mokoena said as per iDiski Times.

“We got nervous when they scored the second one, but we scored [again] and they put in numbers in front, we panicked a bit, we needed to be more calm on the ball because when we’re in control we play so much better, when you play too many long balls it’s not our game. We need to improve on that and moving forward into the knockout stages.    

“That’s why I said the real tournament starts now; it’s going to be tough now but we’re looking forward to it.”

Left-back Aubrey Modiba has flagged their Bafana's defence as a big worry and wants Broos' men to be tighter at the back while protecting goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

“We have conceded in every game that we have played, we must just make sure we concede less and score more goals,” Modiba said 

“We haven’t scored too many goals, and I think those are the things that we must work on going into the next round.    

“Hopefully, we can rectify that and make sure that we go all the way. But it gets tougher and tougher now, I don’t want to lie.

“We also have to do it for him [Williams] because he has been saving us in some of the games.    

“I think for us as defenders as well, we need to help him, not only defenders but we need to press from the top. Hopefully, we can rectify that in the next game.”

Cameroon coach David Pagou knows the task they have at hand to tackle a Bafana side dominated by Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns players. 

“We know South Africa are strong and stubborn opponent,” Pagou said, as per KickOff. 

“They have a competitive domestic league and players who know each other very well so the match will be complicated.

 “We will play to our strengths and try to make things difficult for them. The goal is to show up strongly and deliver good performance.

“In the end, we qualified for the Round of 16 and that’s the most important thing," added the Cameroon coach. 

“The young players are the future of Cameroonian football. They have great quality and a lot of potential.  

“They just need to adapt quickly to the national team so they can give their best. We will continue to support and guide them — that is our objective at this stage.”