BAFANA HAVE A SCORE TO SETTLE WITH SALAH AND EGYPT

IT'S time to get even, Bafana Bafana. It is time to settle the score with the Pharaohs.

Friday’s 5pm Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash between South Africa and Egypt will mark the fourth meeting between the two countries situated on opposite tips of the motherland.

It is a crucial clash for both teams, with the winner set to book their place in the knockout stages with a match to spare.

Both teams were 2-1 winners in their opening matches – Bafana having beaten Angola courtesy of goals from Oswin Appollis and Lyle Foster, while Egypt got the better of Zimbabwe.

These are countries who have built something of an Afcon rivalry since SA’s return to the international game.

Three times they have met at the biennial continental showpiece and there was no love lost on any of those occasions.

It all started in Johannesburg 30 years ago, when Egypt beat Bafana in the group stage at Afcon 1996  and then in the final in 1998.

The wait for yet another Afcon meeting between the two countries was very long, but when it came, it was sweet with Bafana beating Mohamed Salah’s span in their last-16 clash in 2019.

They meet again in neutral Agadir on Friday, and Bafana will be keen to level the head-to-head record at two wins apiece.

Ahead of their top-of-the-table Group B encounter against Egypt, coach Hugo Broos said the manne know what is expected of them from start to finish.

Broos wysed: “I think the players were conscious that if we go on like this, then we’ll lose the game. You saw the reaction, but again, I know the guys and that will not happen anymore.

“It was lucky for us that we won that game, so that there was no damage. But that can’t happen anymore, and it won’t happen. This is not the kind of team that thinks things will be easy when they start a game.

“They showed that in the previous months. I am happy with the wake-up call and that we won the game.”