Clive Barker believes Gordon Igesund will lose his job as Bafana Bafana coach if he does not win the 2013 African Nations Cup.

Barker, however, also believes that Bafana can repeat the triumph of 1996, when he famously led them to Nations Cup glory on home soil.

Igesund has been mandated by the South African Football Association to reach at least the semi-finals of next year’s tournament in South Africa, but Barker went one further by suggesting the current coach needs to win to survive.

“I just think, you know, that if you have the national team, and you don’t win and you are playing at home, you are not going to be in a job at the end of it,” said Barker yesterday, speaking in Durban at the African Soccerex Forum ahead of the draw for the Nations Cup.

“I think generally the country has to get right behind him (Igesund). He must feel the support and if he does, I think we can have a great tournament and be a little too classy for other sides, I really do,” he added.

Barker did say that he felt only “two or three” of the current Bafana line-up would have made the 1996 side, but continued: “I want that perception to change, and the only way to do that is to win here. This might sound like a joke, but for the first time, that would take the pressure off 1996. No one wants to hear we were successful then, we want to be successful now.

“Playing in your own country is pressure in itself, but if he (Igesund) handles that and gets us to play to the best of our ability, we can be successful.”

Barker’s Bafana started their 1996 campaign with a 3-0 hammering of Cameroon, which set the tone for the rest of the tournament, and Barker stressed the importance of Bafana doing well in their opening match, at Soccer City on January 19.

“There was a parallel with the Rugby World Cup (in 1995) when South Africa beat Australia in the opening match,” said Barker.

“We went to see Tim Noakes and Morné du Plessis to find out how they did it, and after we got it right on the opening day, I had a feeling we would go all the way.”

The former Bafana coach added that home advantage was a “huge” plus.

“When we were in Joburg, because of the altitude, it was a huge factor. It also meant we didn’t have to pack out suitcases and move, we were in the same hotel from day one.”

Igesund already expressed a desire to avoid Nigeria in yesterday’s final draw in Durban, but Barker harbours a personal wish for Bafana to face Nigeria.

The Super Eagles pulled out of the 1996 tournament, after South African president Nelson Mandela called for sanctions to be placed on the Nigerian government following the hanging of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

“I hope Nigeria are in our section, because we can find out who was the better team, them or us,” said Barker. “I think their president realised they were going to get a smack.”

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