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Bafana Bafana's all-time leading goal-scorer Benni McCarthy believes South Africa have a chance to advance to the next stage of the World Cup despite being drawn in what he describes as a "very tough group".
"If I am honest, it is going to be really, really tough. We couldn't have a more difficult group. Uruguay are a top South American side, great players in their line-up, so they are going to be a really tough nut to crack, and then Mexico are extremely difficult. And obviously there's the French side. They've not been the best over the last two years but they've still got the players and in tournaments like the World Cup, they can get off to a good start and then you never know what's going to happen. I think they have a point to prove to the world after being so underrated lately," McCarthy told FIFA.com.
He added: "The advantage for us is that we do play at home, we do have the majority of the fans on our side and we do have the conditions that we are used to and that other teams will have to adapt to. So maybe that could be a factor that could count for us.
"We are just hoping to get a great start in the first two games, before we play France. You never know, we could set ourselves up nicely for a chance of going through to the knockout rounds."
McCarthy said the first game against Mexico is the crucial one, as a win could hand South Africa some momentum and create a fever that could carry the team forward.
"I think the first game is possibly everything. The first game is our final. The first game will tell us if we are going through or not going through. If we can beat Mexico, that will send everyone's confidence sky high.
"It will make us believe we are good enough to beat France or Spain or whoever comes along in our path later. That will set us up fantastically and hype things even more, with the fans and everyone. And then I think we can actually be the surprise package of this World Cup," commented McCarthy.
McCarthy believes head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is the key to Bafana Bafana's success in the World Cup.
"I think he's probably the one who is going to ultimately determine how far we go. With his experience, we couldn't have got a more high-profile manager to take our team to the World Cup.
"With his experience and his ability and obviously how he gets his ideas through to the players, he has been great. Everyone has taken to him. We've got a great understanding. He's come back and changed things around and the atmosphere in the team from when [Joel] Santana [his replacement for a time] was in charge is so much better.
"He comes in with a positive attitude and his way of getting the message across to the players can hopefully be a big part of us trying to do well, not just for ourselves, our families, and the country, but also for the manager we have, because he's been brilliant," concluded McCarthy.
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