Bafana Bafana made it through to the round of 16, however, it was not without ensuring that the South African national team were at the edge of their sets watching last night's final group stage encounters.
Mali's 1-0 win over Angola was the last fixture which went in favour of Bafana last night, ensuring that Head Coach Stuart Baxter and his boys have a spot in the last 16 after finishing the group stages as the fourth best third-placed team.
The national team will now be locking horns with the hosts, Egypt, on Saturday, July 06, with Head Coach Baxter revealing what it was like in the moments after their qualification was confirmed.
Read more: Bafana Without Key Man Against Egypt
"We sat together watching the Mali game on the big screen and some of the Mali defending were hair-raising to say the least, and they gave Angola far too many sniffs to be comfortable but once it was over and we knew that we would be getting Egypt, I think everybody was buzzing, they are looking forward to it," Baxter told SAFA.
"I don't think mentally we have to lift them (the team), I think mentally they know that each game was very close and they know that we were there or there about in both the games that we lost (against Ivory Coast and Morocco).
"There is a little bit of revenge on themselves, they know that they can do a little bit better and be more efficient and that they can in the last third, they can improvise a little bit more.
"I don't think that we have to do a massive motivation pump, they will be up for it no matter what I say," he added.
Watch all 52 AFCON games live in HD wth Dstv Compact!
