Bafana Bafana will be wary of Cape Verde on Saturday evening when these two teams go head-to-head in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

The last spot in the semi-finals of the continental football showpiece will be up for grabs.

South Africa will target a performance or equal to their round of 16 clash in which they stunned Africa’s top-ranked team, Morocco 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals.

In the current FIFA world rankings, South Africa, are ranked 66th, while the island nation is not far off in 73rd.

Cape Verde will head into the knockout match with confidence as well after they eliminated Mauritania with a 1-0 win in the round of 16.

The Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, warned that Cape Verde can by no means be underestimated.

“We don’t underestimate Cape Verde, they are not the same team like Morocco with high quality players who play in big teams in Europe,” said Broos.

“What I saw from the team, I think we don’t have to underestimate them. It’s difficult to play against them, that means we have to achieve our best level to reach the semi-finals.”

On Saturday at 19:00, Mali will face the host Ivory Coast. South Africa versus Cape Verde will kick-off at 22:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport