Hugo Broos called on his Bafana Bafana players to show that they are thirstier than Morocco’s Atlas Lions in tonight’s 9pm Afcon 2023 qualifier in Rabat.
Appointed last year in the wake of Molefi Ntseki’s failure to guide South Africa to January’s edition of the continental tournament, Broos led an unfancied Cameroon side to African glory just five years ago.
And after his Bafana narrowly and controversially missed out on making the third-round playoffs for a place at the Qatar World Cup later this year, Broos wants his manne to show they belong back among Africa’s best.
He says: “What I learnt from the past is that African players want to go to Afcon. They will do anything to go there.
“Many years ago when I was a player, the clubs didn’t have to release their African players [for the tournament], but there was no African player who stayed at the club for Afcon. Now it’s the rule. It’s even bigger.
“A World Cup is a World Cup, but I think if an African player is honest, he wants to be at Afcon more.”
Bafana Caf club competition finalists like Percy Tau (Al-Ahly) and Thembinkosi Lorch (Orlando Pirates) will have to haal uit en wys against a Moroccan side who have risen to second in the Caf ranking.
With La Liga’s best Yassine Bounou in goal and a defence manned by Wolves ace Roman Saiss and PSG star Achraf Hakimi and new Bayern Munich recruit Noussair Mazraoui as rightback options, it’s going to be tough.
In attack, coach Vahid Halilhodzic can call on Sevilla aces Youssef En-Nesyri and Munir with Benfica’s Adel Taarabt pulling the strings.
Final training session - tomorrow is a big day! We are ready!!! #BafanaPride #AFCON2023Q #AFCONQualifiers pic.twitter.com/A9IamYRchE
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) June 8, 2022
The last time the teams met – in an Afcon 2019 group game – now-retired Mbark Boussoufa scored the only goal, giving the Moroccans their first win over SA in six meetings.
Bafana lead the head-to-head meetings with two victories – the last of which was in 2002.
matthew.marcus@inl.co.za