Former Bafana Bafana international Teboho Mokoena backs African teams to impress in the FIFA World Cup currently taking place in Qatar.
Mokoena was a member of the Bafana Bafana team that played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan.
"First games are difficult in every World Cup, it's difficult to tell who is doing well, but second games that's where you can tell which team is stronger," Mokoena tells KickOff.
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"But so far I'm impressed with the African teams, even though Ghana lost yesterday, they did play well.
"It was the same thing with Morocco and Senegal. I think they are going to do well in this World Cup.
"Cameroon was the only African team that didn't live up to my expectations.
"The thing is all the African teams are in difficult groups.
"But that said, the African nations are showing huge improvement this time around compared to previous World Cups.
"They have closed the gap; they are matching the nations from the other continents with our only problem being the finishing.
"In every other department we match them, but the finishing is letting the African teams down.
"So, they end up being punished at the end of the day.
"But other than that, I think African nations have improved a lot, and this World Cup on its own has improved a lot.
"The reason teams are not free scoring in this World Cup is that the strength is equal, it's pound to pound.
"Ecuador are the only weakest country I've seen in this World Cup.
"I remember in the 2002 World Cup in Kore/Japan we only didn't make it far because of our own mistakes that we committed.
"So, this time let's just put our hopes on Ghana, I see Morocco but I'm not convinced.
"Ghana, they compete and they are fighting, they are aggressive. They die with their boots on.
"I believe Ghana will get out of their group."
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