Cape Town - The versatile Cape Town City FC captain, Lebogang Manyama, said although he is cognisant of Nigeria’s propensity for dominating the continent, he believes that with team effort, Bafana Bafana can beat the Super Eagles at home.
South Africa will open their 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Nigeria in Uyo State Saturday.
"We know what Nigeria is capable of. We know about all the stars they have in their team but at the end of the day it is 11 against 11 and they are human beings like us," said Manyama as quoted by the official SAFA website.
"They are not unbeatable. We have to believe in our strengths and not worry too much about them. If we put up a team effort, we will most likely come up with a good result in the end."
The 27-year-old from Thembisa believes that 25-man squad has the panache to undo the bad record the country has accumulated against the Super Eagles over the past 25 years.
South Africa has won one match against their next opponents, which was a friendly match - 10th edition of the Nelson Mandela Challenge-at Ellis Park back in 2004.
"If you look at the talent that is here, it is amazing. Everybody that is in the squad is on top form and that is good for the team," said Manyama.
"Once we can contribute individually according to our strengths and mix it up with the team effort, it will turn out very well."
Kick off is at 18:00 (SA time).