Helman Mkhalele, South African legend and former Bafana Bafana International has come out to say that Nigerians don’t speak well of the South African National Team from time immemorial as regards the Cup of Nations going on in Ivory Coast.
Mkhalele also insisted that the Super Eagles don’t confidently claim dominance over the Bafana Bafana anymore.
He also talked about how the Super Eagles have lost their dominance over the South African team. He spoke to SABC Sport as regards Wednesday’s match-up between the two countries.
He brought back memories of how the Nigerian fans showed them extreme hostility which affected how they played the game.
Going to that game, I still remember when we landed in Lagos, people were raising their hands and said, You are going to get [beaten by] five. If you saw, there was so much, ‘that hatred’ and I believe maybe as a team, we could not handle that type of pressure [before the match].
But when we got onto the pitch, I would say we made some mistakes that cost us dearly, and playing against a top team with top players in Africa – even the world, I think that sealed our fate because you can’t make mistakes against top players.
All of a sudden it was 2-0, and to have to chase that game was really hard.
Mkhalele said
He went further to say their years of shame are over and how they have closed the gap in recent years. He also believes that the players want to make name for themselves;
Going forward from 2000, the Nigerians were always mocking us and saying bad things about us, but fortunately, over the years, we started to close that gap. Even now, today, I still believe that as much as they claim dominance, they are no longer claiming it with that same confidence.
So, that is what I believe our players will just carry [into the game] because they just want to make history for themselves.”
Mkhalele added
