Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has defended the character of his squad ahead of their AFCON opener and says it's crucial they give Ivory Coast something to ponder on.
Bafana open their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations campaign against The Elephants at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Monday afternoon (16h30).
Plenty has been expected of the national team over the years, since their famous continental triumph in 1996, but no generation has quite lived up to this.
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Often, teams have disappointed through a lack of heart and patriotism on the field of play, but Baxter is confident the current crop of players differ in both aspects.
"I think there may have been times before when South African national teams could be accused of not achieving what their potential deserved on the field, because of not having the right focus," said Baxter.
"But win, lose or draw, that will not be the case with this group of players. This group have a very small ego, and a very great South African heart – they enjoy playing for their country.
"And I'm sure that they are going to leave everything out there in every game."
Coming up against the two-time champions, the British tactician conceded that they will have to allow respect to the Ivorians but stresses that they cannot allow their opponents to build momentum.
"We're playing against the best teams on the continent, which we could say is a heavy group, but we feel the way to not be intimidated is to pay them the respect that they deserve but not fear them," he added.
"We have to be better than they think, quicker than they expect and better organised than they anticipate. If we can do that, then I think they will then have to rethink their game plan.
"That's the only way you can do it, you can't sit back and hope they going to make a few mistakes, because once their machine is rolling then it's difficult to stop them.
"So, we've got to – yes, respect what they do, but also make sure they have to deal with something that we can do."