Picture: Bafana Bafana interim coach, Molefi Ntseki/Supplied  

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

14 August 2025- South Africa coach Molefi Ntseki and his charges are bracing for a tough match when they face Niger in a must-win African Nations Championship (CHAN) group clash at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, on Friday night.

The South Africans are third on the Group C standings with four points from two matches and are two points behind leaders Uganda, who have already played three games. Ntseki’s charges will be seeking maximum points if they are to ensure that they remain in control of their destiny as the group stages near their conclusion.

Second-placed Algeria faced Guinea earlier in the day in the other Group C match that could give the South Africans an idea of what they need to do later in the evening. Ntseki said they will take some important lessons to the clash against Niger after they were stretched by Guinea but still emerged 2-1 victory at the same venue on Monday.

“I think the lessons learned from that game (against Guinea), which we view as positives, include the (strong) mentality of our players and their high level of concentration, despite the fact that they were under siege for the better part of the match.

“We stuck to our discipline, we stuck to our game plan and every member of the team had to dig deep to make sure that the result ended in our favour,” he said.

Ntseki further said the most important thing was the technical discipline when we were out of possession and this was very important. He added that they carried out their technical discipline for almost 60 minutes during the game and there were turnovers in between and there were transitions for and against.

“We managed to hold onto the ball for a longer period and in between we managed to create goal scoring opportunities, and we managed to score the two goals.

“So in terms of not conceding towards the end of the game when the pressure was mounting on us, I think it was a very good lesson and also a plus for our players to show that we can still play under pressure, we can still grind out the results despite the fact that the opponents were coming at us,” said Ntseki.

Senior player and defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele said they respect every team in the tournament and would approach the West Africans with the same regard they afford to all opponents.

“For us as a team, we never underestimate anybody. We treat each game with respect and approach it with a positive mindset.

“One of the strongest components we have in our team is that we’re mentally very strong. We don’t look at the name of the country,” he said.

Mphahlele said whoever they play against, they always try and give their best because they know that they are representing their country. He said so, whether they play Niger, Sudan, or Nigeria, they can never walk onto a football pitch and think they have won the game already.

“We go out there every day to suffer, to protect the badge and to fight for our country. So, in this team, there’s never a moment where we look at the country and say it’s a small country because they haven’t won a game, and then we approach it with a negative mindset.

“We always focus and play to win. So, whether it’s Uganda, Niger, Guinea, Algeria, we go in with the same mentality,” said Mphahlele.

Meanwhile, the CHAN tournament is being held in East Africa in three countries – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – between 2 and 30 August 2025.

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