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Bafana motivated to win

Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana players believe they have enough motivation to defeat the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt when they face each other in a 2012 Afcon qualifier.

The match will take place at the Cairo Military Academy Stadium on Sunday, 5 June. Kickoff is at 20:30 (SA Time).

The Pharaohs are in danger of not qualifying for the 2012 continental showpiece that will be held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. They are bottom of the group after collecting just one point in three matches, to South Africa’s seven in the same number of games. In continental rankings Egypt are third followed by Bafana Bafana.

“We don’t need any further motivation for this match. They have always qualified for the tournament and are currently the champions, so a win for us will be a huge morale booster ahead of the actual tournament knowing we have contributed to them failing to qualify.

"We managed to get a point in Sierra Leone, and we believe we can do well in Egypt. We have the players that can take the heat when the going gets tough, but let me add that they will not be vulnerable because they are fighting for their lives,” said midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane.

Scorer of the solitary goal in the last clash against Egypt, Katlego Mphela, believes Bafana Bafana will have to be smarter to get out of Egypt without a loss.

“This will be a different ball game altogether. When they were in South Africa they were playing for a draw but now they will be needing all three points so they will come at us relentlessly. The advantage there is that they might open up and we could be punish them, but we should not be stupid and look for a win when we can see we can’t get it.

"We are experienced enough to know which games we can win and which ones we can settle for a draw. All the players are aware that beating Egypt will increase our chances of qualifying ten-fold, and playing at an even smaller venue (Cairo Military Academy Stadium) could make our job a lot easier rather in the big Cairo International Stadium,” said Mphela.

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