South Africa declare war on Nigeria, vow to prove ‘superiority’ over Eagles

It is the third meeting between these teams in three years and South Africa believe they have mastered how to beat Nigeria.The Bafana Bafana defeated the Super Eagles 2-0 in Uyo in 2017 and forced the same team to a draw at home. Now, they believe they have the antidote to Nigeria, which has always had the upper hand in meetings since the former apartheid enclave rejoined the international football community in 1992.

At one time, the South Africans got so tired of their team losing to Nigeria that a serving sports minister described the Bafana Bafana as a bunch of useless players. Then, it was a given that South Africa must fall any time they had Nigeria as opponents.

But South Africa’s midfielder, Dean Furman says that era is over. He believes his team have overcome their Nigerian hoodoo and therefore are primed to have a day in the sun tomorrow.“It is going to be tough, we had Nigeria in our qualification group, we beat them away and we drew with them at home.

“They are a top side, they have got many great players. We look forward to it, it is going to be a good encounter, we know them very well, and they know us very well.“We are excited to play Nigeria now,” he said.

Another star ready for the showdown against Nigeria is Bongani Zungu, who played a pivotal role in the Bafana Bafana defeat of Egypt. Zungu told cafonline.com that the victory over Egypt has put them in good stead to “With Nigeria, they’re a good team, we’ll see from tomorrow watching their videos and seeing how they play… For now we’re just happy with this win and we’ll focus on Nigeria tomorrow.

“For me, they’ve got top midfielders, midfielders that can play, and a good attack. I can’t spot one who I can say is the best because there’s a number of them,” he said.Percy Tau was pivotal in South Africa’s last victory over Nigeria and he says he is ready to repeat the feat tomorrow. Tau has been unusually quiet in this competition, but he was named the man of the match against Namibia. Now, he sees the game against Nigeria as another opportunity to remind people of what he can do.