CHAN: South Africa will focus on key moments against Algeria – Ntseki

South Africa coach Molefi Ntseki believes his side is ready to rise to the occasion when they face Algeria in their first match of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) at Namboole Stadium in Kampala, Uganda on Friday.

The North Africans have already played a match in this tournament after comfortably beating hosts Uganda 3-0 on Monday and the Group C leaders will be looking to maintain their momentum in their second outing of the competition.

Meanwhile, for Bafana Bafana, they will be marking their return to CHAN after an 11-year absence.

“Algeria has proven to be a good team, with rhythm and organisation. We’ll try to manage the early minutes well — that will help us control the game. Our focus will be on key moments and playing our game,” Ntseki said as quoted by CAFOnline.com.

“We are in a tough group, but we came to represent our country with pride and to compete at the highest level.”

South African midfielder Neo Maema, said: “We’ve studied how they played, and that will help us start better. We are here to compete and to win. This will be a good test for us, and hopefully it allows us to position ourselves well in the group. Our main goal is to win this tournament.”

A draw keeps all four teams in contention, while a South African victory would throw the group wide open heading into the final round of fixtures.