Former Bafana Bafana full-back Thabo Matlaba has backed the national team to eliminate Morocco when the nations meet in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations round of 16.
South Africa will play the North Africans in what promises to be a tough last-16 encounter on Tuesday night.
Matlaba says the past three matches proved Bafana has what it takes to handle every team in the tournament.
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"The first game it's not like we played badly, we did very well in the first half, but in football, if you don't take your chances you get punished, the penalty we missed was going to change the dimension of the game," Matlaba tells KickOff.
"Thrashing our neighbors Namibia 4-0 in our second game showed we are the best, we've got a lot of quality in that team.
"Against Tunisia, our coach's game plan was spot on. Tunisia wanted us to press high, but to their surprise, we did a middle press. We only needed a point to go through, hence we played in a counterattack. We were focused on our own game and not on the Mali and Namibia one.
"We are facing Morocco in the last-16 which is a good game for us because we've got speed and we can play from the back and in the middle.
"Our strikers might not be scoring that much, but look at the great job Evidence Makgopa has been doing.
"What Makgopa is doing is to create chances for his fellow teammates to score goals.
"He is creating space for the likes of Themba Zwane, and Percy Tau to score. He is fighting for every ball.
"Trust me that boy Makgopa is going to be one of the best due to his hard work.
"We are playing with Sundowns' back five including Williams, so we are playing the Sundowns way at the back. Once you beat the high press you have a chance to score. That's how Mamelodi Sundowns plays.
"Trust me we will go to the final with Senegal, I've watched all these teams play and trust me we are going to the final.
"I'm happy that we got Morocco, a win against them will pave our way to the final."
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