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One point is all that the South African Under-23 football team needs to seal a berth in the semifinals of the CAF U-23 Afcon tournament under way in Egypt.
A positive result against Nigeria on Friday will also keep them in contention for an Olympic ticket.
Coach David Notoane’s side heads into their final group game leading Group B on four points, with Nigeria and Ivory Coast tied on three points.
Hosts Egypt and Ghana have already advanced in Group A and await the top two finishers from Group B to confirm the semifinal line-up on Tuesday.
South Africa beat Ivory Coast 1-0 on Tuesday to add to the point they acquired against Zambia in their opening fixture last Saturday.
Notoane, however, warned that the group was still open but his side had so far achieved their objectives in a tournament where the finalists and a third-placed side will represent Africa at the Olympic Games in Japan next year.
“After the game against Ivory Coast we are on top of the group which is where we wanted to be going into the last game against Nigeria. The group is open. Anyone can go through and anyone can go home depending on the results of the final matches.
“We know what we are up against and we also know what we have to do against Nigeria,” said Notoane.
“I’d like to believe though maybe the pressure is more on Nigeria to get result than it is on us.
Of course, we are where wanted to be in terms of our plans for the tournament. It has always been the mentality to take something out of every game – we took a point against Zambia and we took three against Ivory Coast.”
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