Neil Tovey says the Bafana Bafana players must not allow the burden of expectation to weigh heavily on them when they take on Zimbabwe during the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier at FNB Stadium on Thursday night.

Bafana go into the penultimate match sitting on top of Group G, and victory over the Warriors will see them as favourites to progress to the final round of qualifiers when they take on Ghana at the weekend.

The former Bafana captain said beating Zimbabwe will give the SA football fraternity something to shout about and leave the team with their fate in their own hands.

“It is a big week for SA football. The football fraternity needs some happiness and there can be great happiness this week if they do the job,” Tovey said at an event where the Bafana Bafana Class of 1996 Legends pronounced their support for the JL Shoes Moshoeu Foundation.

“There is another qualifying round but it will give us aspirations to qualify for the World Cup. It will give us belief. This generation of players have a huge task on their shoulders but we must first deal with Zimbabwe at home, and let’s not look too far ahead to the Ghana match yet.

“Let’s get the result on Thursday and then keep our destiny in our own hands. It may even be over by Thursday. Who knows. We don’t know what is going to happen in the match between Ethiopia and Ghana. It is not all cut and dry.”

To be able to beat Zimbabwe, who have a number of players based in Europe and in the DStv Premiership, Tovey said they must be able to deal with big moments.

“We have to identify big moments in the game and handle them well. We need to be there for the big moments in the defence and lay the foundation for the rest of the game.

“They must be composed and start like they did against Ethiopia, I don’t want to see us sit back and try to defend one goal or something like that. They must believe in themselves. Some have the experience of having played at junior World Cups and Olympics over the past five or six years.

“Some have played at the U17 World Cup, at the U20 World Cup, two U23 Olympic qualification processes and tournaments. There have been international tournaments. They must draw from playing in those tournaments and go to the World Cup at senior level to rub shoulders with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi.”