Bafana Bafana's midfield general Teboho Mokoena.
Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of their daunting FIFA World Cup opener against Mexico, insisting the pressure is squarely on the co-hosts as South Africa look to rip up the textbook and script their own history at the Estadio Azteca.
Addressing a packed press room on the eve of the tournament, Mokoena confidently laughed off bleak external data that has written off the South Africans before a ball has even been kicked in anger.
Statisticians have handed Bafana Bafana a mere 7% mathematical probability of upsetting El Tri or advancing from a daunting Group A. For Mokoena, however, those numbers represent the ultimate tactical liberation.
"There is apparently a seven percent probability of us going into the next round, or even winning the game tomorrow," a smiling Mokoena told reporters. "So we don't have pressure, the pressure is squarely on the hosts, Mexico. As a team, we know what is expected of us, and we know how much we have prepared for this game and for this tournament."
