South Africa trainer Molefi Ntseki says his outfit faces a very tough task when they host the Black Stars of Ghana despite the absence of some key players.
The Bafana Bafana of South Africa will take on the Black Stars on Thursday at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg in the fifth round of the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.
Ghana will miss the services of players who ply their trade in England due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Captain Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew and deputy captain Thomas Partey will all miss the game.
Despite their absence, coach Akonnor is not taking anything away from Ghana and has anticipated a very tough encounter against the Black Stars.
âSo they are a very difficult teamâ a very dangerous teamâ even now that they have lost some of their best players. Whoever will be in that team will try to prove a pointâ will try to win a permanent position in that team.
âSo we are more concerned about our teamâ and our approachâ in terms of playing to get results.â
âI would say Ghana for us are more dangerous than they were when we were analyzing themâ and [now] bringing in players for this game. Because it becomes much easier for you to play when you know who youâre playing againstâ when you analyze individual players in their teamââ Ntseki said.
âIn this case you are more about the coach to sayâ âIn their past two matches what was their approach?â And hopefully it will be the same approach.
âBut Ghana will be coming here with a different team altogether. The first leg that they played against Sudan in Cape Coast they wonâ and then the second game in Sudan [both in November] they changed the teamâ and they lost.
Ghana and South Africa are currently leveled up on 9 points in Group C of the qualifiers.