Ivory Coast coach Ibrahim Kamara admits their AFCON opener against Bafana Bafana will be ‘difficult’ but believes his side have what it takes to achieve the desired result.
The Elephants are one of the pre-tournament favourites and boast an array of talent who ply their trade for top European clubs.
And while admitting that his side may lack the experience of previous Ivorian teams, Kamara is confident in the quality at his disposal.
“We have assembled a good team for the tournament. Matches will say whether we could achieve our ambitions or not,” said Kamara in his pre-match press conference.
“We need to have a positive start. The first game is always important, especially in a tough group like this one.
“This generation might lack the needed experience, but they believe in themselves and have the needed passion and motivation to achieve some good results.”
But Kamara admits it won’t be easy against a ‘great’ South Africa side and pointed to the fact that Stuart Baxter’s men will be tough to break down as they let in only two goals in their qualifying campaign.
“South Africa are a great football team. They defend well and can play football. They conceded only two goals in the qualification campaign,” acknowledged Kamara.
“They are here to represent and play for their country, and this is the same for us. So, it will be a difficult game.
“We don’t usually approach every game in the same way, and with the information we have on South Africa, we will try to approach the game properly and get the best result possible.”
Kick-off at the Al Salam Stadium is scheduled for 16h30 (SA time).