De Villiers turned on for Zimbabwe

"Zimbabwe. Tomorrow."

Those two words, said with a deliberate pause just long enough to make the room uncomfortable, was AB de Villiers' answer to a question about which team South Africa is looking over their shoulder at and when South Africa think they will expect to come under potentially crippling pressure at this World Cup.

Of course that is not the real answer. Zimbabwe are not the toughest opposition South Africa expect to face and the first match is not the one they think will define their final position in the group. Of course we knew why de Villiers said that.

As wooden and worn-out as the one-step-at-a-time theory sounds, it is the only way to approach a major tournament, especially if you are South Africa. Thinking too much about the World Cup inevitably leads to thinking too much about their own performances at the tournament and it's known where that goes.

So sometimes a trip down memory lane just isn't worth the bother. De Villiers is the only one who has ghosts from 2007 and that was where he learnt the lesson he is applying to this edition.

"I remember the first one going by really quickly and before we knew it we were in the semi-finals. It was almost as easy as that," de Villiers said. "I know that World Cups are not as easy as that but it happens really quickly and before you know you are out.  As easy as it is, it's also just as tough. These tournaments go by quite quickly even though it's quite long."

The 2007 tournament was 47 days (this one is 44) but involved a pool stage and super eight round which meant it took 10 matches to get into a knockout situation, leaving ample room to be underwhelming somewhere along the way. This time there are only six games, with some space to fall short but clear enough guidelines for where that cannot happen. To cut through the calculations, if the big teams beat all the small teams, they will reach the quarter-finals relatively hassle-free.

That's when the real stuff starts and de Villiers knows it. So he has rightly decided not concern himself with too many other things before that, including which other teams to watch out for.

"To watch other games and follow other games tires me out. I don't really care about other games," he said. "I watched a bit of Sri Lanka and New Zealand just now. I watched 10 overs and I feel tired sitting here now. I don't like to focus too much on that. We do our analysis and we focus a lot on other teams.I just want to get away from that a bit and focus on what we've got to do to win this game tomorrow.

"We're going to play some world class teams in this World Cup and if we are lucky enough to make it to the quarters we will hopefully play three incredible cricket games against three really tough opposition so I don't need to tire myself out already thinking of them."

Instead, de Villiers will encourage his men to pause for a moment and soak in every one of those steps on the way. "It's the kind of tournament you build up to your whole life and all the guys feel like that. It's important to break things down a bit, slow it down a touch, make it feel like a whole year because its a dream come true for everyone here," he said. "Sometimes if you don't do it that way, those pressure situations fly by."

That's where the crux of South Africa's strategy lies. If they are switched throughout, when the moment that could decide the tournament arrives, they will recognise it. The hope is that they will react differently this time to the way they have done in the past. "The pressure will be on at a certain stage in the tournament and if will be up to you to make a play for the team. If you can't, we might lose. If you do, we'll win. That's what it comes down to," de Villiers said.

Of course South Africa knew that at every other tournament. Of course every other team knows that too. Of course not every team will be able to pass the test. All this obviousness hides that South Africa genuinely believe they can be the winner this time.

"Like any other tournament, our chances are good. We are in a good space as a team which bodes well for a side," de Villiers said. "We are comfortable with where we are at. We enjoy each others' company. But we are not getting ahead of ourselves. We are not thinking of the trophy at the moment. We know we can win it. There's no doubt about that. We know there are lots of obstacles along the way."

The first one is Zimbabwe. Tomorrow.