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Johannesburg - A favourable initial-round draw in the World Cup qualifiers will provide a ray of light for Bafana Bafana to gain a prized place in the 2014 tournament in Brazil, SA Football Association (SAFA) vice-president Danny Jordaan said on Monday.
The prospects, however, would become a great deal darker at the end of the qualifying tunnel, Jordaan warned, with a possible tie against the likes of the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt or Cameroon.
"The opening round for Bafana against Botswana, ranked 71st in the world, Central African Republic (89th) and Ethiopia (139th) or Somalia (191st) could not have emerged much better," Jordaan said.
"But when it comes to the final hurdle, in which the 10 remaining countries will be vying on a home-and-away basis for the five World Cup places allocated to Africa, Bafana could end up playing one of the other seeded nations."
Jordaan said it had not yet been clarified how the Confederation of African Football would pair teams for the final qualifying segment, but the likelihood was that the decision could come down to a nervy draw involving the elite of African soccer.
Jordaan, the head of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, returned from Brazil on Monday where he attended the draw as a SAFA observer.
He said the glittering function in Rio de Janeiro augured well for a another memorable event following on the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
