After scraping into the Afcon knockouts, Bafana Bafana face even 'MO' problems.
South Africa qualified for the last 16 of the tournament via the back door after getting lucky with Tuesday night’s results group-stage conclusion confirming them as the worst best third-placed team.
Coach Stuart Baxter and his team’s reward is a Saturday date with Mo Salah and Afcon hosts Egypt at the Cairo International Stadium.
There will be 75 000 fans baying for blood when they take a Pharaohs side who topped their group by winning all of their games.
And Bafana will have to stiek uit wild to stand any chance against the seven-time champions, having scored just one goal all tournament.
Training under radar. @BafanaBafana getting ready for Pharaohs on Saturday pic.twitter.com/6Gakdow7In
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) July 3, 2019
But Baxter says it’s just the sort of test his team will relish.
He reckons: “It is a great challenge and that is what the whole squad has been looking for.
“I think our group has been really tight.
“It was seconds away from almost every game being a different game, a different result so the people will think we have gone through the back door or whatever.
"But we were seconds away in a couple of games from going through on our own power and people would have said that is a great performance.
“We have this opportunity now to play against the host nation in front of a lot of people in a very, very hostile environment.
“And that is when you want people to stand up and I think the group is looking forward to it.”
The fixture list you've all been waiting for. 📊
Here's how the tournament tree looks, with all round of 16 teams drawn. #TotalAFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/OYSqeYuPAm
— CAF (@CAF_Online) July 2, 2019