Bafana will have a mountain to climb at the Fifa World Cup - ex Man Utd assistant coach

There’s no pulling the wool over the eyes of Bafana Bafana fans; progressing beyond the group stage of the Fifa World Cup later this year will be incredibly difficult. This is a view shared by former Manchester United assistant coach René Meulensteen.

Drawn alongside Bafana in Group A are co-hosts Mexico and South Korea. The fourth team is still to be determined, from four teams still in the running for a place at the quadrennial showpiece.

Bafana’s exit in the first knockout round at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) would not have helped either.

However, it would have given Bafana coach Hugo Broos a good idea of where his side is lacking in tournament football with six months to go before the World Cup.

Meulensteen Believes Mexico and South Korea Too Strong for Bafana

Meulensteen believed Mexico and South Korea would be too strong for Bafana.

“It all comes down to whether South Africa can win one game, and that may depend on whether Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic, or North Macedonia qualify,” Meulensteen told Casinostugan.

“I think South Korea are a good side and may be too much for them. Mexico will play at home. I don’t think South Africa can win that. Out of all those teams, Denmark are the ones you’d expect to qualify, and they too will probably have too much for South Africa.

“It will be really, really difficult for them.”

If the pressure of playing more fancied opponents was not enough, Bafana will take on Mexico in the opening game of the World Cup on June 11. Getting any kind of result in favour of Bafana in that clash would be a major upset, and a week later, they will play their second match against the still-to-be-decided team.

Bafana will wrap up their group fixtures against South Korea on June 25.

@Michael_Sherman

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