Igesund: We can handle pressure

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Cape Verde coach Lucio Antunes was quoted on Monday saying South Africa, as hosts, carried more of a burden to perform. However, Igesund has a different view and insists every team is under pressure to do a good job for their respective countries.

“Any coach in this tournament who will tell you he is not under pressure, he is not telling you the truth,” Igesund says.

“But the pressure is something we can handle… You want to please the people. You want to make the country proud and you want to make yourself proud. The players want to do a good job and when we kick the ball for the first time, it will all be gone. We are not new in this game.”

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As for Bafana’s first opponents, Igesund says he left no stone unturned in his research and he is confident Bafana can get the better of the Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) at National Stadium.

“I have a lot of information [on Cape Verde]. We’ve got a company that does all our analysis so I’ve got a lot of information about how they play. We have individual tapes of all their players… We are pretty aware of them and I’m sure they are aware of us.

“We are very positive and the players around me are very positive. We are well prepared and we are ready for this tournament and come the 19th, we will be out there doing our best,” he adds.