'Let the best teams go through,' says Ntseki with a win against Uganda a must for Bafana to make last 8 at Chan

Bafana Bafana will have no option but to beat co-hosts Uganda at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, to qualify for the African Nations Championship (Chan) quarterfinal, Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki said after South Africa drew 0-0 against Niger on Friday.

Ntseki accepted Friday's results, saying his team gave its all against a Niger side that had nothing to play for after losing their first two matches in the tournament.

As things stand, Uganda are on top of Group C with six points followed by Algeria and Bafana on five. Only two teams from the four groups qualify for the last 8 and Ntseki believes it is not all lost for Bafana after their draw against Niger.

“In terms of the performance I can't fault the team,” said Ntseki. “We did our best playing against a team that had got no points. They were more of a dark horse for us and had nothing to lose.

“Even in the end they were the ones celebrating the draw. We played to win the game but unfortunately things didn't go our way. We're keeping our heads up for the next game because the turnaround period is very short — two days. We're playing against a team that has been off the field in the past five days.”

While Ntseki might have said Bafana's destiny is in their hands before playing Niger on Friday, he accepted after that match that Monday's encounter is now akin to a final as only a win will see them through.

“What's interesting is that no team in this group has already got a ticket to go to the next round,” he said. “That makes the whole tournament very interesting because it means if we slip on Monday we have to go home.

“Three top teams are playing on Monday and let the best teams go through to the quarterfinals. From our group we're going to produce the best two teams.”

Bafana will face Uganda at the same time (7pm) that Algeria will be playing Niger at Nyayo National Stadium in Kenya, Nairobi on Monday, Kenya are of the three hosts of this tournament alongside Tanzania and Uganda.