Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena has opened up on their ambitions in the Africa Cup of Nations after they eliminated the number one-ranked team on the continent, Morocco in the last 16.
Mokoena played a big role in Bafana beating the Atlas Lions 2-0 on Tuesday evening in the round of 16, as his ability to anchor the midfield and join the attack caught Morocco by surprise and he capped off his performance with a stunning free-kick in stoppages, as he was named Man of the Match.
The current edition of the Afcon is seemingly up for grabs, as all the five top ranked sides are out of the tournament, after Morocco joined Senegal, who were defending champions, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt out of the competition.
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Mokoena says they are aware that the top five nations are currently out of the tournament and it's up to Bafana and other nations to take the opportunity.
"Honestly no expectations from us, we're gonna take it one game at a time, because this tournament we all can see it, no one can say who's gonna win it," Mokoena said in a press conference.
"The top five teams in Africa are all out, so it's up to us or other teams to take the trophy. In 2019 we made it to the quarter-finals, it's not a surprise to South Africans that quarter-finals are new to us.
"So we must take it a step higher, we must take the national team to a better place than we found it, that's our aim and our goal as a team and we'll see," he added.
Bafana have a big opportunity to reach the final, as they will come up against Cape Verde, who are ranked 73rd by FIFA (14th in Africa), in the quarter-final.
And should Bafana reach the semi-finals, they will come up against the other quarter-final winner between Nigeria and Angola, who both have a rivalry with South Africa.
The Super Eagles narrowly beat South Africa 2-1 in the quarter-finals in the 2019 edition.
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