Percy Tau says Bafana Bafana are a “confident group” heading into the Africa Cup of Nations.
South Africa take on Mali, Namibia and Tunisia in Group E when the tournament kicks off in the Ivory Coast from January 13.
Bafana have won the biennial competition just once in 1996 and failed to qualify for the previous AFCON in 2021, having also missed out on the 2022 World Cup.
Several issues had to be resolved before South Africa were ready to jet out to the competition, not least the issue of bonuses, which has now been settled.
But as just one of three players in the team with AFCON experience, Tau knows the whole squad will need to step up to make a significant challenge.
The Al Ahly attacker said in the Sowetan: “We are happy we were able to finalise everything.
“I don’t think that money was the only issue, there were other issues to sort out, now we just want to focus on football.”
Tau added: “The only thing we have said to them is that it is going to be difficult, that is all we have told them at the moment.
“It is sad we don’t have the other players (Lyle Foster and Lebo Mothiba) but it is also the decision of the coach and (because of) other circumstances that came up.
“We are a confident group, I am one of the senior guys and we will see in training how I form partnerships with other guys, but the responsibility is not solely on me, they also have to come and play. I am confident the other guys will also help me.”
