David v Goliath: Underdog Eritrea Eye Monumental Bafana Upset

Eritrea will look to cause a major upset when they take on South Africa in Wednesday’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt.

Kick-off is at 6:00 pm CAT.

CURRENT FORM

The Red Sea Camels opened group D with a 1-1 draw away to co-hosts Kenya in Nairobi, where Girmai put them ahead before an 87th-minute equaliser denied them a famous win on Saturday.

That point followed a 4-1 aggregate success over Eswatini in the preliminary round, Eritrea’s first AFCON qualifying campaign in nearly two decades.

With Kenya already through to next year’s finals in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, only one qualifying place remains for Eritrea, South Africa and Guinea, so a result against Bafana would keep their unlikely bid alive.

South Africa arrive after a 2-1 home win over Guinea at Orlando Stadium on Saturday, Pitso Mosimane’s first competitive result in this second spell in charge, which left Bafana top of the group on three points.

A victory over Eritrea would see the 1996 African champions maintain their lead at the top of the group D standings with four matches left.

TEAM NEWS

Eritrea are coached by Egyptian former Zamalek defender Hesham Yakan, and he will again lean heavily on diaspora players after seven locally based squad members failed to return home following the Eswatini tie.

Forward Ali Sulieman, who scored three times across that preliminary round, and Sheffield United’s Siem Eyob-Abraha are the main threats, while captain Ablelom Teklezghi is expected to feature if fit.

Eritrea have no approved home stadium, which is why this fixture is being staged in Cairo.

South Africa, on the other hand, have had injury issues which have seen Lebohang Maboe withdraw from the squad, while Nkosinathi Sibisi missed the Guinea win.

Aubrey Modiba is doubtful due to a tight hamstring, but Mosimane has the likes of Samukele Kabini and Fawaaz Basadien as his options in the left-back position.

WHAT WAS SAID?

Eritrea head coach Hesham Yakan

“It would have been beautiful to get the win. I had prepared for this kind of performance, and we went into the match with a compact defence and playing on the counter-attack," Yakan told El Match (Sada El Balad).

"The Eritrean national team is newly formed, the players have not played many internationals before, and they do not have experience of these matches.”

“There are professionals in the Eritrean team, but they play in the second, third and fourth tiers in Europe. The next match against South Africa is a very difficult game. God willing, we will get a good result. We have an excellent goalkeeper.”

South Africa head coach Pitso Mosimane

“Good start; let’s keep our feet on the ground. We don’t have to be too excited; it is only the first game. We played well. We are a good team, but there is still a long way to go.

"Unfortunately, we didn’t take the chances we created. But we put pressure on and showed we wanted to score. We had many free-kicks and corners. The South African challenge is that we don’t score easily.

"We score two out of six chances, maybe. But we had the right mentality; we wanted to play and fight and press. We created opportunities. You can complain about not scoring, but you cannot complain about not creating.”

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This will be the first-ever meeting between Eritrea and South Africa.