Danny Jordaan sat in the front row at the African Nations Cup draw in Libreville on Thursday night and flinched as Nigeria were drawn in Bafana Bafana’s qualifying group for the next finals‚ in 2019 in Cameroon.

But the South African Football Association president insisted afterwards that South Africa‚ even without a coach six months before the qualifiers get under way‚ could top Group E and get an automatic berth at the 2019 finals.

“It’s a reality of sport that you can get a tough draw‚ but I think we have shown over the last few matches that we are equal to Nigeria and that we have a good chance.”

Bafana will play away in Nigeria in their opening group game in June‚ just two months before they resume their 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

“It’s going to be tough to juggle the two competitions at the same time but I think‚ strangely‚ the teams playing in this Nations Cup in Gabon will have an additional burden with a hectic programme for the year‚” Jordaan said.

“They have a much stronger possibility for injury and burnout. It’s going to be a huge challenge to play in two qualification tournaments in one year and‚ in addition to that you have the Nations Cup finals now and then there are also club commitments”.