South Africa star Percy Tau says they are not new to the nervy situation they are facing against Sudan in Sunday’s final Group C Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Omdurman.
A draw against Sudan, who are a point behind them, will be enough to secure participation at the Afcon finals to be staged in Cameroon in January 2022.
In the qualifiers for the last Afcon edition, Bafana Bafana had to wait until the final match to confirm a ticket for Egypt 2019.
They went into the last game needing to avoid defeat against Libya in neutral Tunisia, but they won 2-1 with Tau grabbing a brace.
Molefi Ntseki's side now face a similar situation against Sudan as they need to just avoid losing.
“It happened before‚ and we would love it to happen again. There’s still another match for us,” said Tau as per Sowetan Live.
“Look I think we are in a difficult group. And other teams are also finding it difficult. When Sudan win and they have nine points it’s different to how it was when they had six points. But then‚ we’re looking forward to the next game.
“If it means we have to win away we’ll still celebrate the same way we would have loved to celebrate [against Ghana]. And it will never change.”
A defeat in Sudan would spell doom for Bafana and end their hopes of going to Cameroon next year.
Tau is one of the outstanding players for South Africa in this campaign with four goals to his name in five matches.
Meanwhile, Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo underlined the importance of Sunday’s fixture, saying they can feel the weight of expectations on them.
“We as players are the ones who are going to be doing the job on the field and we know how important it is,” Hlatshwayo told the media on Saturday.
“We know this is a decider, the last match of the group. The winner qualifies for Afcon in Cameroon.
"As a team, we have a mandate internally and that is to make sure we qualify for Afcon.
"Obviously as a country, as a team and everyone in South Africa supporting us is expecting us to win against Sudan.”
