Mokoena tips Bafana to beat Cameroon

Former Bafana Bafana captain, Aaron Mokoena, believes that South Africa can overcome Cameroon in their upcoming 2017 AFCON qualifying fixture.

The man known as Mbazo in the local footballing fraternity, acknowledged the difficult position that the national team currently face themselves in, but the former Portsmouth man is adamant that Bafana can surprise everyone.

“We are in a very difficult situation. Cameroon have almost gotten away with the group. I have realised about Bafana Bafana lately is that they tend to surprise us when they are under immense pressure, especially against the top teams."

The Indomitable Lions currently top the standings, having won both their qualifying fixtures thus far, with South Africa in third-position, following a shock 3-1 loss to Mauritania and 0-0 draw against Gambia.

Mokoena, who has 107 international caps under his belt, also took the time to highlight some of the difficulties that the national team would face against their far more experienced, West African opponents.

“The particular difficulty is that we play the first game away in Cameroon before meeting them in Durban a few days later.

“Tactically, we can’t fully sit back. We can be cautious but not fully defensive… there’s a difference. The objective is clear – let’s go out there to score goals! It will also be vital not to concede any goals,” Mokoena told Soccer Laduma.

Bafana face the West African giants on Saturday, 26 March at the newly-built Limbe Omnisport Stadium at 15h30.

“When AFCON 2017 gets underway, you don’t want to be the team that didn’t qualify. We need to qualify. It was the coach’s mandate to take us to AFCON 2017,” Mbazo added.