Bafana Bafana players say they are ready to do the country proud on Sunday night when they meet Canada in their last 32 FIFA World Cup clash.
Bafana reached the round of 32 employing mainly locally based players, and their performances at this year’s global showpiece have taken a lot of people by surprise.
FIFA WORLD CUP | Bafana Bafana finished second in Group A behind co-hosts Mexico after defeating South Korea 1-0 to reach the last 32 round for the first time. They will now face Canada in Los Angeles on Sunday. Former Bafana Bafana player Mark Fish has praised the squad, saying… pic.twitter.com/8YaPNjIpT4
— SABC News (@SABCNews) June 25, 2026
One of the few Bafana Bafana players who ply his trade abroad, is defender Ime Okon. The German-based defender says the players are all revved up for tonight’s game that kicks off at nine o’ clock.
“It’s very exciting to know that everybody is behind us and you know the support we’ve been getting from everybody back home really motivated us and it just helps us when we get onto the pitch we know that we are not only working for ourselves and our families but we know we working for the country back home and that is just one extra motivation for us to die on the pitch”.
Bafana Bafana have also caught the attention of the world with their unique way of arriving at the stadium in song and jubilation. The players always take the field singing, and Okon says this is the way players psych themselves up for matches.
“In South Africa we call it gwijo it’s something that we do before the game, you know we sing it brings us together as a team you know it’s like a motivation for us you know. Most of the songs are leading us into the battle that we going to go into. It’s great feeling you know being amongst the guys, singing in harmony and it just gets us motivated for the game.”
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