By Ed Aarons Johannesburg

Henning Gericke (left) helped South Africa at the Rugby World Cup

The sports psychologist who helped turn South Africa's rugby union team into World Cup winners says the nation's footballers can have a big impact at their own tournament later this year.

Henning Gericke sat on the bench in Paris when his country won the Rugby World Cup for the second time in 2007.

He was first used in football by South Africa's former coach Joel Santana and has been back in the national team set-up in recent weeks.

"The perception of Bafana is that they can't do it, so we have to create a feeling of confidence from within the team itself," he told the BBC.

"We're going to build momentum during all the smaller warm-up games and show what they can achieve - we need to develop a winning habit and ensure the players trust each other."

Gericke spent the last week of January at South Africa's training camp in Durban.

"My job will kick in five or six weeks before the tournament begins but I also want to recommend that we have at least one session before they go to Brazil for another training camp next month," he said.

"I've learned a lot already from the camp in Durban - the dynamics, how they work as a team, what the coaches do.

Gericke is working to instil confidence in Bafana Bafana

"The important thing is that they don't see me as someone who can fix all their problems, rather someone who can take them to the next level in terms of mental toughness and how to relax more."

The squad were given a series of exercises designed to improve their self-belief - something that has been in short supply following a dismal run of eight defeats in nine matches at the end of 2009.

"What I'm planning is to give them 3-d glasses to wear and load images of every player to watch themselves playing," he explained.

"[The player] then sees himself doing good things on the pitch and that helps to imprint positive images in the sub-conscious mind that helps improve his self-belief.

"We need to channel the pressure into positive energy - I don't want to talk about being scared but instead [about] being fearless."

But while preparation for matches will be vital in a group that also includes former winners Uruguay and France, Gericke will take a backseat on matchday to allow Parreira to get his message across to the players.

"My style will be more in the background - on match days, the players should only hear from one person and that is the coach," he said.

"I really believe they can make it through the group stages - it's our country and our people and that will definitely inspire the team."

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