Nigeria to play in high altitude against South Africa

South Africa's decision to schedule their African Nations Cup qualifier against Nigeria to Johannesburg, a venue where they have enjoyed superb success for years is a massive boost to their chances of reaching the finals in Cameroon. 

If they could replicate their away victory in Uyo last year and defeat the Super Eagle, Bafana Bafana will qualify with a game to spare. Although with an injury-hit squad and playing against a vastly improved Nigerian side, that seems a tough task.

Any advantage they can get could be vital, hence the high altitude of the FNB Stadium and a pitch that suits their possession style of football could be just the thing to secure their ticket to Cameroon.

Bafana are yet to lose to Nigeria in Johannesburg, with the last two meetings ending in a barren draw at FNB Stadium in 1993 and a 2-1 victory at Ellis Park in 2004.

In fact, Nigeria's three previous away victories over South Africa all happened at the coast -Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town.

It is a great advantage for the hosts and a major part of Baxter's plan will be to drive the Super Eagles players across the pitch, tiring them as much as possible going into the final 20 minutes.

South Africa's game is well suited to achieve that, they can quickly switch play from one side of the pitch to the other and also break fast as they look to add to their four-game unbeaten run against the Super eagles.

This tactic has served Bafana well for years at FNB Stadium, with just eight defeats 40 games at the venue.

Considering the calibre of visitors they have had - Brazil, Spain, Netherlands to mention but few, no doubt, it is a solid record. They have also held Argentina, Germany and France in matches at altitude in Johannesburg.

In the past, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Cameroon have proved to be top-quality African oppositions at the venue and also come up short against Bafana.

Their 40 previous matches at the Stadium have produced 25 wins, seven draws and eight defeats, while they have scored double the number of goals as their opponents - 60 to 30. 

The side has played a paltry 11 matches at the national stadium since 2006, which ahead of the 2010 World Cup was torn down and rebuilt hence, was out of commission for three years. 

In 2012, they suffered two defeats in that time, to the recently crowned African champions Zambia and a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Brazil two years later.

Albeit that, they have been extremely dominant, not forgetting their biggest ever victory, the 6-0 win over Seychelles in the Nations Cup qualifiers last month. 

If ever you wanted to see why a nice pitch like the FNB Stadium is important to how Bafana play, it is evident in their two games against the Indian Ocean islanders.

That crushing victory, which with due respect, could easily have been double-figures without the heroics of the Seychelles goalkeeper and some poor finishing, was followed up by a goalless draw in Victoria days later. 

The artificial pitch was close to unplayable and it reflected in the result.

Undoubtedly, the Super eagles will enjoy the FNB Stadium pitch, but whether they will put in a 90-minute performance at the high altitude is very germane and that is where Bafana can exploit.