Bafana Bafana defender Wayde Jooste is confident that the unity in the group of players has been a significant factor in making them ready for their opening CAF African Nations Championships (CHAN) match against Algeria on Friday.
South Africa were drawn to Group C with Guinea, Niger and Uganda. Algeria and Guinea are currently on equal points after winning their respective opening fixtures.
Algeria showed class during their 3-0 win against Uganda will look to continue on the winning lane when they clash with Bafana on Friday at 16:00. Jooste feels that it was not hard for the team to gel as the majority of them compete in the same league.
“I don’t think it’s been that tough (to become a unified group), honestly, because the majority of us have played against each other in our respective leagues and some of us have actually been teammates in different clubs. So, I feel like the fact that we were together in (camp) in South Africa before coming to Uganda, it also helped us a bit to bond together as teammates,” he said on the SAFA website.
“Most importantly, we’ve become a little family because, like I said, we’ve been together in South Africa and now that we are in Uganda, the bond within us just becomes stronger and stronger.”
While the Premier Soccer League is among the largest and most popular leagues on the continent, Jooste believes that the lack of familiarity with the team works in their favour and will create a surprise factor going into the match.
“It’s a very good thing that we are an unknown quantity because they won’t know what to expect from us. So yeah, it’s a very good thing that they don’t really know much about us. It will count in our favour and it will be an advantage for us going into the group stages,’ Jooste concluded.