Ahead of Nigeria's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against South Africa, a Leicester City star has praised Bafana Bafana off the back of their impressive performance at the latest Africa Cup of Nations.
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The Super Eagles will host Hugo Broos' side next week Friday, before taking on Benin four days later, with the west African nation currently third in Group C and South Africa sitting second behind Rwanda.
A penalty shootout was needed to separate the two teams at the 2023 AFCON following a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, a match Leicester midfielder and stand-in Nigeria skipper Wilfred Ndidi, who missed the tournament through injury, wants to leave in the past.
"They [South Africa] are a very good team going by their performance at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire," he said, according to All Africa.
"They gave us a tough fight and the winner had to be separated by penalty shootouts. But for me, the AFCON is past and we just need not look towards that direction again because their team then might be different entirely this time around. So, it all depends on us as a team and the way we want to approach the game."
The 27-year-old, who was once linked with a move to Manchester United, feels the Super Eagles need to get wins under their belt to relieve some of the pressure they find themselves under.
"To be honest, I think the team is under pressure because we drew our first two games [against Lesotho and Zimbabwe], which now puts us in a difficult position.
"If we had gotten wins in both games, we would have felt much more better going into the games against South Africa and Benin Republic.
"However, it's football and the pressure that comes with it is actually exciting because we know what we have to do. We know the games are must-win. We just need to stay focused, put in our best and try to win the matches."
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The game between Nigeria and Bafana will be held at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
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