Aden McCarthy confident as Bafana eye COSAFA Cup Knockout stages

Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs defender Aden McCarthy is exuding confidence and focus ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s decisive COSAFA Cup group stage match against Mauritius.

The 21-year-old centre-back, whose team faces Mauritius at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein with a 15:00 kickoff, believes South Africa is ready to secure a spot in the regional tournament’s knockout stages.

McCarthy highlighted Bafana’s intensive preparation, noting their tireless efforts in training over the past few days, meticulous study of Mauritius, and the refinement of their tactical approach for a commanding performance.

He affirmed the squad’s mental and physical readiness, emphasising their determination to dominate possession, maintain a solid defence, and ignite their campaign with a crucial win.

“Coming to Bloemfontein for the COSAFA tournament, we didn’t have much time to prepare,” McCarthy admitted. “But we have coachable players, and coming from a busy season with our respective club teams, we just have to stick it through. We arrived here with a mindset ready to fight, conquer, and win games.”

Reflecting on their journey so far, McCarthy acknowledged the opening 1-0 loss to Mozambique but quickly pivoted to the team’s resilience as they beat Zimbabwe 2-0.

“Unfortunately, the first game never went in our favour. But we came back with a good fight for the second game [against Zimbabwe], and going into the third one [against Mauritius], I feel like as a team, we are very prepared mentally and we are strong on the field.”

The Amakhosi defender underscored the national team’s self-belief in their playing style.

“There’s no team that can dominate the ball as much as we do on the field. We are just going to go with that in terms of our confidence in one another, our belief in one another, and the belief coming from the technical team. We are just going to work as one team to overcome the opposition.”