Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele discusses what it feels like to play the Super Eagles, 24 years after losing to them in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.
Back then South Africa were one of the strongest teams on the continent, having won the tournament in 1996 and finishing as runners up in 1998. This time, Nigeria will be the clear favourites but Mkhalele has a score to settle.
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“Going forward from 2000, the Nigerians were always mocking us and saying bad things about us, but fortunately, over the years we started to close the gap,” Mkhalele told SABC Sport.
‘Midnight Express’ is also referring to the previous decade where South Africa's stock had fallen on the continent as they consistently failed to qualify for World Cups and Afcons. Nigeria were dominating South Africa, but then under coach Shakes Mashaba Bafana Bafana were able to rally with them, earning positive results.
In 2014, South Africa drew 2-2 with Nigeria in a campaign which started to change things, and that meant the Super Eagles failed to qualify for Afcon and Bafana did go through with Mashaba at the helm.
“Even now, today I still believe that as much as they claim dominance, they are no longer claiming it with that same confidence. So, that is what I believe our players will just carry (into the game) because they just want to make history for themselves,” Mkhalele said.
The last time Bafana faced Nigeria at Afcon, it was in the 2019 event when the Super Eagles won 2-1 in the quarter-finals thanks to a late goal by William Troost-Ekong.
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