Bafana Bafana will take on Madagascar in the quarter-finals of the Cosafa Cup on Sunday afternoon at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium, writes DEAN WORKMAN.

Bafana will be searching to avoid an embarrassing quarterfinal exit for the second year running. A much-improved performance will be needed if they are to improve on the 2017 performance, where they suffered a 1-0 loss to guest side Tanzania in the quarterfinals before consoling themselves with victory in the Plate competition.

Stuart Baxter has selected a quality squad for this year’s competition that features a mix of experience and youth and is packed full of talent. Baxter’s job will be to get this young side playing together as a team.

If Bafana do manage to overcome a determined Madagascar side‚ they will meet the winner of the clash between Zambia and Namibia in what will be a tough semi-final.

While If Baxter’s men fail against Barea they will yet again drop to the Plate competition.

The four-time Cosaf Cup Champions will have their work cut out for them as they come up against an in-form Malagasy side which finished as Group A winners with seven points from two wins and a single draw.

Madagascar opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over Mozambique. They followed this up with a 1-1 draw with the Seychelles on Tuesday (in a game where they were reduced to 10 men), before sealing top spot on Thursday with a 1-0 win over Comoros.

The sides have met on five previous occasions with Bafana winning four of those, while the other match ended in a draw.

Bafana will take on Barea on Sunday in the Cosafa Cup quarter-finals at the New Peter MoKaba Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.