Head coach Hugo Broos has addressed questions over Bafana Bafana's recent form of just one victory in five matches as South Africa prepares to face South Sudan in their second 2025 AFCON qualifier.
Broos' troops will be aiming to collect their only second win in six outings when they face South Sudan on Tuesday afternoon away from home.
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While on paper Bafana's record looks somewhat woeful since their return from the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, it's important to consider the calibre of their opposition.
In their last six outings, they played a 1-1 draw against Andorra away, a 3-3 draw with Algeria away, a 1-1 draw away to old nemesis Nigeria, and a 3-1 win over Zimbabwe at home, before a 2-2 against Uganda at home.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference for the South Sudan match, the Belgian said the results should not be taken out of context.
"That's what I said in the beginning, that we will play against a tough opponent," Broos responded when asked about Bafana's recent form.
"About the draws [against Andorra, Algeria, Nigeria, Uganda], you have to look at who we play against. We didn't play against the worst teams in Africa, we played against the best teams of Africa. For example, these are all teams that are in the top 10 [of the FIFA rankings for CAF national teams] and not at home, we played away.
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"Algeria, for example; Nigeria for example. not at home, we played away. These are teams that are in the top 10. So, I think those are results you can expect and it has nothing to do with our qualities or the fact that we didn't play a good game.
"I think it was the opposite, we played a very good game against Nigeria, we played a very good game against Algeria and all the other opponents."
Bafana's match against Uganda is scheduled to kick off at 15:00.