Matthew Booth (Gallo)

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• carlos alberto parreira

• south africa

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Johannesburg - Matthew Booth insists Bafana Bafana won't disappoint an expectant nation, by qualifying for the second round of the Soccer World Cup.

South Africa were eliminated at the first hurdle at their previous two tournaments in France 1998 and Japan/Korea 2002 and according to Booth, they are looking to 'make history' this time around.

The Sundowns defender is by no means a certainty to make Carlos Alberto Parreira's final squad but that hasn't stopped him from talking up Bafana's chances.

Booth told the Sowetan: "The biggest hurdle for us is to get out of the group stages, considering that we were eliminated in the first round at the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals.

"This will be possible and we have players who believe in themselves and don't want to disappoint the nation."

The central defender believes that it will work in Bafana's favour that their first-round opponents, France, Uruguay and Mexico see them as the weakest side in Group A and the hosts will use that to their advantage.

"We are happy with our underdog tag and it will be good if our opponents treat us as such. But we are not going to be like sheep going to the slaughter.

"But we will make history by becoming the first Bafana Bafana team to qualify for the second round."

He added: "The atmosphere throughout the country is fantastic. In 1996, the then-Bafana Bafana squad went into the Africa Cup of Nations without anybody giving them a chance. It is now history that they won.

"Once we are there (at the World Cup), the sky will be the limit. We have a very good chance of going all the way."