Siyanda Xulu still confident Bafana Bafana will make the AFCON Knockout stage

Bafana lost the opening game 2-0 to Mali on Tuesday in Korhogo after a dominant first-half performance, including a missed penalty by Percy Tau.

With the next game against neighbours Namibia scheduled for Sunday, Xulu acknowledges that it will be an uphill battle against Namibia and Tunisia, but they need the results.

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"It's not gonna be easy, we knew very well coming into this tournament that it's not gonna be easy but then now because we failed to secure a result or even a draw, it's just gonna be up to us to try and get results on the remaining two games," Xulu said.

Xulu has also lamented the number of missed chances that they failed to take in the opening game, something which he feels also contributed to the loss after Mali took over in the second half.

"Yes, yes, I think we're only disappointed with the result. We executed ourselves very well, we showed that we wanted to win against a great side like Mali but obviously going to our next game we should just take our chances," Xulu added.

Against Namibia, it is going to be a true test for Bafana and not as easy as some have predicted, with a lot of players from both camps knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses since they play together and against each other in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

"Yeah, it's very much possible, it's just for us to take the first half performance into the second half, if we manage to do that it is gonna be possible for us to get some result."