Bafana Bafana legend Eric Tinkler says Molefi Ntseki's charges had no reason not to win Thursday night's encounter against Ghana.
Bafana battled back to secure a 1-1 draw against the Black Stars at FNB Stadium on Thursday, leaving the side second in Group C ahead of Sunday's final qualifier against Sudan.
Tinkler feels that getting a win over Ghana was important as it will be tough to get maximum points against Sudan.
"I don't think the result was a result we needed," Tinkler tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"We needed a win, and we didn't get that win. I don't think it's going to be easy to go to Sudan and get a win there. Although all we need is a draw, but that's not the position you want to find yourself in going into the last game. I think if ever we had an opportunity to beat Ghana it was yesterday, considering how many quality players they were lacking. So ja I don't think yesterday's result was very good."
Scroll through the gallery above to recap on Thursday's action at FNB Stadium
Tovey continues: "But we can't keep blaming coaches. Players need to start taking responsibility themselves. They didn't take the many chances that they had. We can't keep saying he was unlucky. If I look at the two chances [Thapelo] Morena had you know, he should have scored at least one of them.
"That's the difference between qualifying and not qualifying. They were in the sixes and sevens in the first half, they didn't know exactly what they were doing Ghana. They got better in the second half because they saw a Bafana team that wasn't there to win a game. The Ghanaian team was really, really depleted yesterday."
Tinkler has advised the Bafana team on how they should approach Sunday's game, which they cannot afford to lose.
"You've got to get the draw, you've got to make sure that you don't concede. And when you get an opportunity to score, you better score. I don't agree with going there and hoping that you are going to defend for 90 minutes."