Bafana Bafana defender Anele Ngcongca says his teammates have fire in their eyes and he believes that despite South Africa not having big name players plying their trade in the European leagues, they will compete.
Shakes Mashaba’s team open their 2015 CAF Orange Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Algeria, the number one-ranked nation on the continent.
The match will take place on Monday, 19 January at the Estadio de Mongomo in Equatorial Guinea. Kick-off is at 20h00 local time (21h00 SA time).
“Despite that the guys have done very well. If you look at the qualifiers you can see that we have a good squad even though they don’t play in the big leagues around the world.
"We faced Nigerian stars like Obi Mikel and company and managed to come out with the points so we are not worried about where the opposition plays. What matters is what happens on the day.
“The confidence and team spirit is very high, we just want to go out there and prove to the continent that South Africa has the talent. I believe with what we did in the qualifiers we can compete with those big name stars,” said Ngcongca.
“Every player that is here is quality. From what I have seen at training and the warm-up matches we played recently, I believe we can hold our own against the much-fancied Algeria. We are all aware that for the two teams it’s a crucial game and both want to start well.
"The squad that we have now has got fire in their eyes and the energy they have is unbelievable. We are all looking forward to this tournament and I think we can surprise a lot of teams.”
South Africa held their first training in Mongomo on Saturday night (17 January) and will tonight (Sunday, 18 January) complete their preparation when they train at the match venue at 21h00.