Mkhalele believes Bafana will make it to CHAN finals

Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele is confident that they will overturn the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers deficit at home.

With Bafana coach Hugo Broos's contract exempting him from coaching in the CHAN games, Mkhalele is in charge of the side. At the weekend, SA suffered a 2-0 away defeat to Angola in the first leg of the second round of CHAN qualifiers. Even so, Mkhalele is still positive that they will turn the tables in the return leg at Orlando Stadium on Sunday at 3pm.

“There are a whole lot of positives which I picked up from how we played, which gives me the hope that we can turn things around in the second leg. If Angola could score two goals in their own backyard then I believe that we can score more goals in the return leg to win this round,” Mkhalele said.

“I am very proud of how my boys pushed themselves in this match, given the fact that most of them haven’t been getting enough game time in their respective clubs. You could see that some of them, their legs were beginning to give in the later part of the game, as we continued pressing forward in search of goals.”

Bafana's CHAN squad is made of fringe players from various DStv Premiership sides. Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse, Orlando Pirates midfielder Siphesihle Ndlovu and Richards Bay ace Luvuyo Memela are some of high-profile names in this hastily assembled squad.

Should Bafana overturn the deficit, they will earn a berth at the finals. Algeria will host this biennial tournament from January 8 to 31 next year. Only players from local leagues are allowed to participate in the CHAN competition.

Goals from Daniel Kilola and Jared Teixeira in either half of the match were enough to put SA to the sword at Estadio de 11 Novembro in Luanda on Sunday.