CHAN: South Africa will not underestimate Niger – Mphahlele

South Africa national team captain Ramahlwe Mphahlele has warned his teammates against underrating Niger when the two sides face off in their TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) fixture at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Kampala on Friday.

While Niger have suffered back-to-back defeats, having lost to Guinea 1-0 in the opener before a 2-0 defeat against hosts Uganda, Bafana Bafana drew the opener 1-1 against Algeria before recovering to edge out Guinea 2-1 and revive their qualification hopes.

“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 we’re mentally very strong. We don’t look at the name of the country. Whoever we play against, we always try and give our best because we know that we’re representing our country,” said Mphahlele.

“So, whether we play Niger, Sudan, or Nigeria, we can never walk onto a football pitch and think we’ve 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.”

Bafana are currently lying third in Group C 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 will take on Guinea earlier in the day in the other Group C fixture that could give Bafana Bafana an idea of what they need to do later in the evening.