With Bafana Bafana in Monrovia for their eagerly-awaited match against Liberia in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, coach Hugo Broos and team have been given hope from some of the personnel who have been there and done that.
Bafana have away a 2-0 against Liberia when they played at home in Orlando last Friday but former captain of the side Neil Tovey has given some hope to the team.
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The 1996 Afcon-winning captain believes that Bafana can beat Liberia in front of their home crowd to qualify for the tournament to be hosted in Ivory Coast next year.
Heartbreak!
Two quick goals from Lyle Foster inside the opening 25 minutes had Bafana leading 2-0 and it looked like Broos and the team were cruising into a victory. However, the home side allowed the visitors to come back and during injury time, Liberia had equalized.
The Good
Bafana need a victory against Liberia to qualify for the AFCON finals to be hosted between January and February next year.
Tovey has no doubt that Broos and the team can do the job to make the thousands of football fans in Mzansi happy.
"We had the chances and we were a better team than them. We were a much better team and there's no reason we can't go to Liberia and win," said Tovey.
The Bad
"I mean, we threw the game away. We were a far better team than them. Even in Liberia we can beat them. There is no reason why we can't. We know it's going to be tough but there's no reason we can't win in Liberia," he said.
The Ugly
Liberia coach Ansumana Keita raised eyebrows with some of his comments, including promising that they would make Bafana 'suffer' in the return leg in Monrovia.
"The tactical strategy we'll use to make South Africa suffer, it will show that, yes, we want to win. We're not going to choke. We're going to play. No matter what happens, we'll play," the coach said after the match on Friday.
The comments didn't sit well with everyone, including Tovey who is the former technical director at SAFA.
"They've got the motivation from their coach to say they will make South Africa suffer and they should use that. He's been talking too much, so it's not even a motivation to get the results. We always face hostile crowds when are away from home, so that is not going to change. We are the only country that always makes it very nice for our opposition," the ex-Kaizer Chiefs star said.
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Summary
Broos was visibly upset after the first leg match and wouldn't want to be in that same situation again. While the pressure has been mounting for the Belgian mentor, he has remained positive that there is still a chance for the side to qualify for the AFCON.
Guard Against Complacency
If one thing Bafana should learn is to guard against complacency to avoid similar disappointment like in Friday's match. The team will need to take their chances and not leave anything to chance.
