BAFANA Bafana have to overcome a massive mental block against Nigeria in Cape Town tomorrow, says one of the few men to have tasted victory over the SuperEagles,Shaun Bartlett.
South Africa should go into the Africa Cup of Nations fixture confident of winning after their phoenix-like rise in Khartoum, Sudan, in the opening Group A qualifier last Friday, where they won 3-0.
But the history between SA and the Super Eagles suggests Bafana tend to scurry like schoolboys in the face of a playground bully when they come up against the old nemesis.
Bartlett, one of the scorers in Bafana's only post-isolation victory against Nigeria - 2-1 at Ellis Park in a 2004 friendly - said a combination of individual belief and mental strength should form the base ingredients for success.
"Firstly, there has to be individual desire to go out and perform. Having witnessed what happened last Friday against Sudan, the team is well on track," Bartlett said.
"It is always good to start any campaign with a win, especially away from home, and that will give the team a lot of confidence going into this game against Nigeria.
"There's probably more of a mental block in the way than anything else. I'm hoping that the current squad can overcome that with the newcoach,Shakes Mashaba."
Nigeriaembarrassed Bafana at an African Nations Championships match in Cape Town in January this year-a3-1defeatthat oustedthehostsfromthetournamentearlyandpromptedSportMinisterFikile Mbalulatocallthem"a bunch of losers".
Bafana mustn' t let Eagles bully them
BAFANA Bafana have to overcome a massive mental block against Nigeria in Cape Town tomorrow, says one of the few men to have tasted victory over the SuperEagles,Shaun Bartlett.
South Africa should go into the Africa Cup of Nations fixture confident of winning after their phoenix-like rise in Khartoum, Sudan, in the opening Group A qualifier last Friday, where they won 3-0.
But the history between SA and the Super Eagles suggests Bafana tend to scurry like schoolboys in the face of a playground bully when they come up against the old nemesis.
Bartlett, one of the scorers in Bafana's only post-isolation victory against Nigeria - 2-1 at Ellis Park in a 2004 friendly - said a combination of individual belief and mental strength should form the base ingredients for success.
"Firstly, there has to be individual desire to go out and perform. Having witnessed what happened last Friday against Sudan, the team is well on track," Bartlett said.
"It is always good to start any campaign with a win, especially away from home, and that will give the team a lot of confidence going into this game against Nigeria.
"There's probably more of a mental block in the way than anything else. I'm hoping that the current squad can overcome that with the newcoach,Shakes Mashaba."
Nigeriaembarrassed Bafana at an African Nations Championships match in Cape Town in January this year-a3-1defeatthat oustedthehostsfromthetournamentearlyandpromptedSportMinisterFikile Mbalulatocallthem"a bunch of losers".
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