South Africa enter into their final Group A clash against Morocco brimming with their confidence after their inspired performance against Angola, which has left them top of Group A with four points.
South Africa enter into their final Group A clash against Morocco brimming with their confidence after their inspired performance against Angola, which has left them top of Group A with fourMorocco will need all three points on Sunday in order to qualify for the Afcon quarter-finalswhile Bafana Bafana seek at least a point in order to progress.
This would mean South Africa go into the game with only two recognised strikers in their squad, with Katlego Mphela and Bernard Parker leading the line of attack. Tokelo Rantie has a question mark placed on his head as he picked up a knock in training, while injured pair Kagisho Dikgacoi and Lerato Chabangu were seen doing light training in Durban on Thursday.
Gordon Igesund is wary of Morocco before the tie and is encouraging his players to focus on the present and the match ahead.
“We know what we need to do on Sunday. We can’t continue living in the past. We must start celebrating once we qualify for the quarter-finals,” he told reporters.
“We won our second game, but we really can’t get carried away with that. One win is not going to qualify us. We know what have to do next. We have a tough match against a strong Morocco side and we need to win that one.”
The hosts will target a victory against the side deemed to be the strongest in the group, but Morocco have failed to light up the tournament with draws against Angola and Cape Verde and may fear the renewed vigour and confidence displayed by Bafana Bafana in their win over the Palanacas Negras.
Rachid Taoussi will need to make some changes in order to help his side unleash their attacking potential with players such as Assaidi and El Hamadaoui yet to fire.
The last time the two sides met was in 2004 in Tunisia and the final score was a 1-1 draw.
Morocco has not qualified for the second round of the Africa Cup of Nations since 2004, when Badou Zaki was coach of the side.
Many South Africans feared the tie against Morocco, but it seems the tables have turned as suddenly the Atlas Lions could be deemed as the underdogs on today Sunday night.
Kick off: 19:00-18pm.
At : Durban.
Date : Sunday 27th January, 2013.
South Africa starting lineups:
Khune, Masilela,
Khumalo, Sangweni,
Ngcongca, Phala,
Furman, Mahlangu,
Tshabalala, Mphela, Parker.
Morocco starting lineups:
Lamyaghri, Chakir,
Bergdich, Benatia,
El Adoua, Abdel,
El Ahmadi, Belhanda,
Assaidi, El Hamdaoui, Amrabat.
Read also:
http://en.africatopsports.com/2013/01/27/afcon-2013-program-of-the-day-2