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Johannesburg - South African national football coach Gordon Igesund is confident that Bafana Bafana will do well against an equally-confident home side in the semi-finals of the Cosafa Cup in Zambia on Wednesday.
Igesund said his charges were seen as the underdogs, but he warned they should not be discounted.
"There is no doubt that Zambia has a strong team, but we have prepared well for this encounter.
"We have come up with a game plan that I believe will see us through, after we saw their last match where they dominated and eliminated Mozambique.
"They have about six players that played in the World Cup qualifiers which shows how strong they are.
"They will also be playing in front of their fans which should spur them on," said Igesund.
"But I have always maintained that we should not worry about the opposition but focus on what we have to do, and stick to our plan.
"We respect the opponent but are definitely not afraid of them.
"We are going into this clash with players who are not well known, and that will give us a psychological edge.
"The the whole of Zambia is not giving us any chance of victory.
"It is always good to have a huge support, but then again that may also put pressure on you as expectations are high for you to win," said Igesund.
South Africa will be without striker Edward Manqele who failed to recover from an ankle injury he suffered in their 2-1 victory over Namibia on Saturday.
Forward Lerato Chabangu, who is being monitored by the medical team, will face a fitness test at the squad’s final training session at the match venue on Tuesday.
Chabangu and Manqele did not train on Monday.
Zimbabwe and Lesotho will contest the other semi-final encounter at the same venue.
