Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says the positive spirit and energy within the squad will be crucial as South Africa turn their attention to Eritrea in their second Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match on Wednesday night.
The Eritreans will host the Group D encounter at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, as they do not have a Confederation of African Football (CAF)-accredited stadium in their home country.
Williams says the unity within the Bafana camp has remained strong despite the changes introduced by newly appointed head coach Pitso Mosimane.
“The spirit and the energy amongst ourselves is always good and we have maintained that. The guys have been open to all the changes that the coach has implemented,” said Williams.
“One way to see that is through the tactical agreements we had in the previous game, to see some of the things we worked on in training ahead of the game.”
Bafana made a winning start to their AFCON qualifying campaign when they defeated Guinea 2-1 at Orlando Stadium last weekend in Mosimane’s first official match since returning to the national team.
Williams says the squad now needs to maintain its hard work as the focus shifts to the East Africans.
Mosimane, meanwhile, has warned his charges against underestimating Eritrea, despite South Africa’s impressive start against Guinea.
“I am happy with the result we got. We got the result, and even the attitude was good,” said Mosimane.
“We need to show the same attitude against Eritrea because you can’t give respect to Guinea and not accord the same to an Eritrea side that just claimed a point away from home in Kenya.”
Eritrea also made a positive start to their qualifying campaign, holding Kenya to a 1-1 draw at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
With both teams having collected points in their opening matches, Mosimane knows Bafana will have to reproduce the discipline, intensity and attitude that helped them overcome Guinea if they are to continue their winning start in Group D.