We stand a good chance to beat Mali – Nthethe

Bafana Bafana defender Thabo Nthethe believes that South Africa stand a good chance of defeating Mali in this afternoon’s group stage match at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town.

Nthethe should start the match against the physical and highly-rated Mali team, who defeated Nigeria 2-1 to sit in second place on the log behind South Africa on goal difference.

Nthethe has been a regular in Bafana Bafana’s starting line-up under coach Gordon Igesund and the coach is likely to start with his strongest squad this afternoon in this crunch Group A encounter.

The result could play a large part in Bafana going through bearing in mind they face Nigeria in their last group fixture.

“The mood in the camp is very positive and we are confident of getting a positive result,” said Nthethe.

“Mali is a very good side, one of the best in the tournament but we are in a good space and believe we are also one of the top teams, so this match will be a very tight affair.

“We are happy to be top of the log but with two tough matches to go anything can happen so we must not become complacent.

“We played well in our opening match but we also failed to convert a few chances and against Mali we will have to concentrate from the first whistle until the last,” he said.

- SAFA