Bafana Bafana must prove they belong at major tournaments, says midfielder Dean Furman as they kick off their 2021 qualifying campaign on Thursday evening (9pm).
South Africa take on African giants Ghana in Group C in their first test, before hosting Sudan at Orlando Stadium on Sunday in a pool that also features Sao Tome and Principe.
Furman reckons anything other than booking their place for the Cameroon tournament in two years’ time will be a massive failure.
After that making the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 will be their next target.
IN CHARGE: Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki. Picture: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix.
Furman says: “I’ve always stated that Bafana Bafana has to be at the major tournaments. There isn’t even a question about that. Anything below that is a big failure.
“The World Cup, Afcon - this is exactly where we should be.
“All our attention is on getting to the next Afcon.
“I believe we had a great Afcon last time out and got one of the greatest victories in Bafana Bafana’s history against Egypt.
“And that’s the level we want to be playing at. This is hugely important.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/2021AFCONq?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2021AFCONqagainst Ghana at the Cape Coast Stadium at 9pm SA time. #GHARSA @BafanaBafana @Banyana_Banyana @COSAFAMEDIA @SAFA_net pic.twitter.com/FojFDcdoxL
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana)
Of their task against the Black Stars, the SuperSport United star adds: “We know them pretty well.
“But what we saw at Afcon and against Mali - is that we can cause any team on the continent problems.
“So we know that when we are at our best, we are a force to be reckoned with.
“So that’s got to be our attitude going into this game.”