Former Nigeria goalkeeper Greg Etafia has urged Bafana Bafana to go for a win and not think of a draw against Sudan in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
At least a point is enough for South Africa to book a ticket for the tournament to be staged in Cameroon in January 2022.
Bafana are second in Group C with 10 points, the same as leaders Ghana while Sudan are third with nine points.
“Going to Sudan is going to be very difficult for Bafana. We are now having our calculators in terms of checking things for South Africa. Remember when they qualified for the last Afcon edition against Libya nobody expected them to beat Libya but they did that,” Etafia told Front Runner Football podcast.
“Most of the time when South Africa’s back is against the wall, they come out fighting. They are very lucky they have a player like Percy Tau. But for me the most disappointing thing was how [Themba] Zwane played against Ghana. We all expected him to do very well but he didn’t bring his A game. But things can change.
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“They are in Sudan now and getting a point is possible. But they need to be clever enough. They need to go there seeking a win. If they play to get a point, they might lose the game. They need to score first against Sudan but at the end of the day this group is open.
“Ghana have already qualified because we give the game against Sao Tome to them. They can score six or seven goals. It is now between South Africa and Sudan but going to Sudan is very tough.”
Etafia feels that Bafana made life difficult for themselves when they were held 1-1 at home by Ghana on Thursday.
The ex-Swallows FC goalkeeper says South Africa blew up what he feels was an advantage of facing a Black Stars side that had no captain Andre Ayew and his brother Jordan, as well as Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey.
He believes it was possible to beat Ghana, a result which could have seen coach Molefi Ntseki’s men edging closer to qualification.
“It could have been easier for South Africa to beat Ghana at home. The first 20 minutes was exciting and the coach came with a lot of surprises,” said Etafia.
“He played [Sifiso] Hlanti on the left wing. Nobody expected that. We were thinking that he was going to play left-back. He used the wing very well, with some shots on target. The two chances that came to my mind where South Africa should have wrapped up the game, was when Zwane and [Thapelo] Morena, when the game was still 0-0.
“Had they scored, it was going to force the Ghanaians under pressure. Remember this Ghanaian team did not have their stars like [Thomas] Partey the Arsenal man and the Ayew brothers. So this was an opportunity for South Africa. You can never have a weaker Ghanaian team than this team.
“If your local league is very strong, you are covered. That is why you see South Africa have 10 points, Ghana 10 points and Sudan nine. Sudan having nine points shows that they are doing well in their local league.”
South Africa face Sudan who are unbeaten at home in these qualifiers including a victory over Ghana.