Make us proud, boys

The road to Russia 2018 enters a critical phase between tonight and Tuesday, as Bafana Bafana take on Cape Verde in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers.

Stuart Baxter’s charges are in Praia preparing to face the islanders in the first clash tonight, before hosting them in Durban early next week.

If South Africa are to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 2002, these are the two games to win. We are confident that Bafana can deliver against Cape Verde and remain in the hunt for one of Africa’s five slots at next year’s finals in Russia.

We are aware that Bafana’s preparations were not ideal, as Baxter travelled without key men such as Itumeleng Khune and Rivaldo Coetzee. But still, we should have sufficient armoury to compete against the islanders whose best result against Bafana was a draw four years ago.

Baxter and his charges should draw confidence from Bafana’s last away official match – when they stunned Nigeria in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June.

The performance then showed SA can hold their own and deliver when least expected. Our fear as we head into tonight’s clash is complacency. Like Baxter, we urge Bafana not to take Cape Verde for granted and wallow in past success.

This is a completely new challenge against new opponents in a new environment.

Bafana began the qualifiers in impressive fashion under Shakes Mashaba last year, collecting four points in their opening two matches. But all that would be meaningless if they don’t do well against Cape Verde. Good luck, boys!