The Bafana Bafana go into Wednesday night’s game against Uruguay knowing that a win could be key to them making a shock appearance in the last 16. (13/8 to qualify)

South Africa, who are trying to avoid the unwanted tag of being the first nation to be knocked out in the group stages as hosts, kicked off their campaign with a thrilling draw with Mexico. The Bafana Bafana made a nervous start to the game and were largely uninspiring during the first half but came to life after a Siphiwe Tshabalala strike and were and unlucky not to take the points after Katlego Mphela  struck the post in the dying moments.

The hosts will now be looking to carry this from into their second match and will be looking to put themselves at the top of Group A against a Uruguay side that looked uninspired in their first group game against France.

“Uruguay will be in trouble if we carry on where we left off against the Mexicans,” said Tshabalala.

“A win against Uruguay will virtually seal our passage into the second round and make the nation even prouder.”

On paper, the Uruguayans possess one of the most potent strike partnerships in the competition with Ajax’s Luis Suarez and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan (Forlan 5/1 favourite for first goalscorer). The two failed to gel during the first match but the forwards failed to gel in the first match the South Africans know that it only takes these strikers a split second to score a goal.

Despite the constant threat, South African centre-half Bongani Khumalo says he is excited by the prospect of facing two of the world’s best strikers.

“Diego is a world-class footballer, but the whole point of playing in this tournament is to test yourself against the best,” Khumalo said. “There is no fear of Forlan nor Uruguay.”

The south Africans will be hoping for the same kind of feverish support that they had for their first game and although many of the sides have been complaining about the noise of the vuvuzelas the South Africans say that the sound of the horn like instruments are inspiring to the African players

“What we have seen from our supporters is amazing and we need to reach the second round for their sake,” South African defender Siboniso Gaxa said. “I believe four points will be enough to claim a place in the knockout stage.”

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