Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong has made a confident Bafana Bafana claim ahead of their encounter in the FIFA World Cup qualifier.
With the two sides battling on Tuesday night at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, Nigeria will be aiming for nothing than a victory to keep their World Cup qualifying hopes alive.
They are currently in third place in their group with 10 points, while Benin sit in second with 11 points and South Africa lead with 16.
Ekong argued that while the Super Eagles may appear to be under more pressure, the hosts are feeling the pressure too despite having everything on their hands.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing similar yet [failure to qualify for 2022 World]. There’s no hearts broken,” said Ekong.
“There’s same opportunity still. Last World Cup campaign, we actually won our group convincingly.
“And we had the playoff system, which I think afterwards it quickly got dismissed for Africa because I didn’t think it was completely fair. A way goal is the thing that actually didn’t allow us to go to Qatar. So, yeah, I don’t know if I can really agree with that [we’re about to fail to qualify].
“I think we are not at that stage yet. We are just focused on the opportunity ahead. And I think the pressure is also on South Africa.
“I think they know that we’re here. We have everything to gain. People have counted us out before already.
“But we’re still here. And we’re looking forward to the game tomorrow [Tuesday]. So, I think we can talk about that again tomorrow [Tuesday] after the game.”
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