9 months ago
37 Former South Africa international and current assistant coach of the team, Helman Mkhalele, has said Nigerians don’t confidently claim dominance over Bafana Bafana anymore.
Hugo Broos men will hope to continue their surprise run at this year’s AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, when they face Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Wednesday.
This would be the fourth meeting between the two teams at the AFCON, with Nigeria winning all three of their past encounters.
The last time both teams met in the semi-finals was at the 2000 AFCON co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria.
A brace from Tijani Babangida secured a 2-0 win for the Eagles.
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Speaking via SABC Sport on the semi-final clash in 2000 which Mkhalele played and how Bafana have managed to close the gap on the Eagles, he said“Ja, going to that game, I still remember when we landed in Lagos, people were raising their hands and said, ‘You’re going to get [beaten by] five.
“If you saw, there was so much ‘that hatred’, and I believe maybe as a team, we couldn’t handle that type of pressure [before the match].
“But when we got onto the pitch, I would say we made some mistakes that cost us dearly, and playing against a top team with top players in Africa – even the world, I think that sealed our fate because you can’t make mistakes against top players.
“All of a sudden it was 2-0, and to have to chase that game was really hard.
“Going forward from 2000, the Nigerians were always been mocking us and saying bad things about us, but fortunately over the years, we started to close that gap.
“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.”
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