Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos believes his side proved they don’t skrik for the big guns by “at times” having their “dominant moments” in their 2-1 win over Africa’s top team Morocco on Saturday.
Cheered on by 55 000 fans at FNB Stadium and playing in the memory of last Afcon 1996-winning coach Clive Barker who died last week, South Africa took the game to the World Cup semifinalists in the Afcon qualifier.
The hosts, ranked 55 places below their 11th-placed visitors on the Fifa rankings, grabbed the lead after six minutes when goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi fumbled a Percy Tau cross for the own goal, before Zakele Lepasa ultimately clinched the three Group K log points, with Hakim Ziyech’s goal on the hour mark proving only a consolation.
Hugo Broos on their 2-1 win over 🇲![CDATA[]]>🇦Morocco this evening at FNB Stadium.
— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) June 17, 2023
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 #BafanaBafana | @iDiskiTimes pic.twitter.com/oxlEwqM3GJ
And Broos couldn’t be happier about the performance, saying: “I’m very happy not only because we won the game, but we deserved to win the game.
“We saw a team that promised progression in the past months and in this game, we played against a very good team.
“We were never dominated and on the contrary, we had our dominant moments, and at times, we had some very good chances.”
With both teams already qualified after the last round of action, Broos adds: “I’ve believed in them, even though some people didn’t believe in them…
“We still need to improve, but if we can do that in the next months, we can play well in the Afcon in January.”
Morocco coach Walid Regragui, meanwhile, says: “I think when I said in the [pre-match] press conference that I don’t care about losing three or two games before the Afcon, I think my players listened to that.
Morocco head coach Walid Regragui feels Bafana Bafana can surprise at AFCON and was impressed by Ronza.#AFCONQ2023 | @iDiskiTimes pic.twitter.com/Guo5GDdtwv
— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) June 18, 2023
“They have their minds on the holidays and I tend to understand that.”