Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has made it clear his much-maligned team cannot afford to crash out early at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) which kicks off in Ivory Coast on January 13.
The Belgian says the minimum requirement for Bafana is to get out of the group stages and qualify for the unpredictable knockout phase of the continental showpiece.
Bafana have a poor record at major tournaments and Broos knows his team face ridicule from all quarters if they come home early.
A bonus of R7m has been promised to the players by the SA Football Association if they go all the way and win the tournament.
Getting through to the next stage will not be easy for a Bafana team who have a long history of failing to deliver when it counts.
Bafana are in a tough group that includes former champions Tunisia, highly unpredictable Mali and neighbours Namibia, who will be keen to topple their regional rivals.
Broos, who knows what it takes to achieve success, says advancing from the group stage is tough because you always face three highly motivated opponents.
However, successfully negotiating a passage through the group stage offers a shot at glory because anything can happen in the knockouts.
Even though the need for scoring goals will be premium, Broos excluded Burnley star attacker Lyle Foster from his Afcon squad after he was put in the care of specialists to deal with mental health issues and as a result, missed 10 matches for his English club.
The mental health problem also forced the 23-year-old striker to pull out of Bafana’s crucial 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Benin and Rwanda in November.
Foster's strong performance for Burnley in their 3-2 Premier League defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park in late December, has raised questions over his withdrawal.
The striker, rated as one of the most promising strikers to emerge from SA since Benni McCarthy, wrote a letter to the SA Football Association declaring he would be unavailable for next month's Nations Cup due to his battles with mental health.
His skill will be missed because, with so much at stake, Bafana cannot afford to bomb out in the group phase.
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