Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele says they mustn’t undermine teams they have been drawn with in the FIFA World Cup group stages.
In a draw held on Friday night, Bafana were placed in Group A alongside Mexico, Korea Republic, with the final team to be decided through the UEFA playoffs between Denmark, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, and Ireland.
Mkhalele says they expect challenging encounters against every nation in their group, adding that opening the tournament against Mexico makes the draw even more intriguing—a repeat of the 2010 clash.
“This is a very interesting draw in a fact that we played an opening game in 2010 against Mexico and here we are again, we go to Mexico, and we open against them,” said Mkhalele, as per Themba Tshabalala.
“Also, when you look at teams like Korea, they pose a different style of play and different type of mentality. They have also been consistent in World Cups. So, we are anticipating to play very tough matches.”
Mkhalele says they will approach each game with the intention of securing victory, fully aware of the strength and difficulty posed by their opponents.
“Our mindset should be that we go out there and make sure that we go for three points in each and every game,” he added.
“Even the teams that are still going to play Playoffs are strong. So, we mustn’t undermine teams by saying we’ll pick three points against them.
“So, firstly we’ll face Mexico targeting three points but still aware of the challenges we’ll face on and off the field. And it must be the same with the other games as well.”
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