Carlos Alberto Parreira (Gallo)

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Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana need to build up their self-confidence and improve their finishing ahead of the World Cup, Carlos Alberto Parreira revealed on Thursday.

Parreira made the comments at the end of a goalless draw against Brazilian outfit Cruzeiro in a friendly match at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte.

The game was unexciting but allowed Parreira to assess the progress of his squad.

The coach blamed the poor attacking performance of the World Cup hosts on an excessive number of foreign strikers in the Premier Soccer League.

"This is the great challenge for South Africa. We do not have great strikers," Parreira told SAPA.

"There are many foreigners in football there, it's five per team, and that makes it harder to train players, because (foreign) footballers are always signed to play up front."

The friendly match against one of Brazil's leading club sides also shows that the squad's self-confidence needs to be improved upon ahead of the world's greatest sporting event.

"It is evident that those who have never played at a stadium like the Mineirao, against a team of Cruzeiro's level, feel intimidated," he continued.

"Young players feel the weight of responsibility. That is why we have to improve confidence to keep the ball longer, get fewer passes wrong, but we will attain that by playing more matches and keeping the team together."

He added that his goal was to get South Africa through Group A, which they share with Mexico, Uruguay and France, and into the round of 16. However, he admitted that this was a modest goal for home fans, and even for South African authorities.

"For me it's a privilege to command the host of the World Cup, but at the same time there is very great pressure on me. The president, the minister, everyone says they want us to reach the final. Getting to the round of 16 is not enough for them," Parreira added.