South Africa has played in three World Cups since the country’s readmission into world football in the early 1990s. Having qualified for the 1998 and 2002 World Cup, South Africa have not qualified for a World Cup in 13 years – excluding the 2010 World Cup the country participated in as hosts.
“I think in all fairness, it was a fair draw. One could not have asked for a better draw than this one,” said Mashaba in Russia on Sunday.
“We have played Angola on a number of occasions, although the outcomes were close, we have had an upper hand,” said Mashaba from Russia.
“It (the draw) was more or less what we expected; you cannot reach the World Cup finals without facing tough teams. One thing is for sure, we will prepare thoroughly against Angola; we won’t underestimate them,” added Mashaba.
Angola will host Bafana Bafana in Luanda on October 11 with the return leg expected in South Africa two weeks later.
Round 2 winners from Africa will then be drawn into five groups of four in which the winner of each group qualify for Russia 2018.
