This SA team will get out of the group, says Mali captain Traoré

MALI captain Hamari Traoré boldly predicted that South Africa will reach the last 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations, even though they were beaten in their Group E opening fixture.

The 31-year-old Traoré – who has played all his senior football in Europe with clubs in France, Belgium and Spain – led his side to a flattering 2-0 win over the South African national team in Korhogo, Ivory Coast on Tuesday.

After South Africa’s penalty miss in the first half, Traoré opened the scoring on the hour mark when he pounced on a rebound after a free-kick struck the crossbar.

After the match, Traoré told the media that South Africa had given his team problems at the start of the first half, but he rallied the troops to deal with the threat.

“Early in the game, South Africa made a few good moves, which presented us with a fair degree of difficulty. We started talking to each other, and we remained focused,” said Traoré, a veteran of 55 national team caps who plays at right back for La Liga club Real Sociedad.

“As I said in the pre-match press conference, South Africa are a very good team. They have top players.

“In the second half, we came up with good pressing and we gained a lot of possession. Afterwards, we scored the goals, but this South African team will get out of this group.

“We were happy to defeat South Africa for our people, friends and family. They played good football, and I hope they get far.

“Now we go for a rest and then focus on the next game on Saturday (tomorrow, against Tunisia). It will not be the same. Tunisia is another team, another contest. We will be prepared, stay focused and work together.

“We have 27 players and the coach will pick 11 to start, and those who come off from the bench will come to finish the game.”

Bafana have made a big impression on the Mali captain, but after their 2-0 defeat, they have a mountain to climb.

In past Afcon encounters, Mali have proved to be nightmare opponents. In 2002, when Mali were the hosts, the two countries met in the semi-final.

Playing under the watch of coach Carlos Queiroz, Bafana Bafana dominated the match but alas, as was the case in the Ivory Coast this week, Mali scored on the hour mark.

Mali again netted later in the match to close out a 2-0 victory.

After Tuesday’s defeat, Bafana fans would have been hit by a painful case of déjà vu because it stirred memories of the quarter-final clash in 2013, when South Africa were the hosts.

Playing in Durban, the game ended* 1-1 after extra time, forcing the dreaded post-match shootout.

Bafana Bafana, with coach Gordon Igesund at the helm, missed three out of their four penalties and Mali went on to the semi-finals.

Now that the Mali threat is a thing of the past, Bafana are preparing to play Namibia on Sunday in Korhogo (10pm kick-off).

They can draw some inspiration from the 2019 tournament in Egypt, where South Africa lost their opener 1-0 against Ivory Coast and then beat Namibia 1-0 in their second group game. As it turned out, it was Bafana’s sole group win because they lost their remaining match 1-0 to Morocco.

They reached the knockout stages (last 16) as one of the four best thirdplaced finishers.

Under the current format, lucky teams can advance with one group win and hope for one of the four berths reserved for the best third-placed finishers.