Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has made a special plea to South Africans ahead of the AFCON qualifier against Morocco on Saturday, 17 June 2023.
South Africa will face the Atlas Lions at FNB Stadium at 17:00. Both nations have already qualified for the tournament taking place in Ivory Coast early next year
The match is also viewed as a test for the Bafana squad against the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists ahead of the AFCON.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Broos pleaded with South Africans, not to be too critical if Bafana lose or get over-excited if they win.
HUGO BROOS’ SPECIAL PLEA
“We will try to show our progress on Saturday,” said Broos. “I am sure we will have a good game, the guys are motivated. I can see that. The vibe is good in the group, but again I asked about it already last week.
“Don’t start criticising this team if we lose. What happened against France last year, to be honest was not fair. You are playing against the World Champions, you are playing now against a team that was third in the World Cup,” he added.
“On the other hand, if we don’t win, don’t think we have a World class team, it will be very good. It will give us a boost if we win against Morocco but again this is not the moment to say we have a big team now. Not at all, we still have a lot of work to do and we will do it.”
MOROCCO A GOOD TEST OF BAFANA BAFANA
“It’s not a small performance, it’s a fantastic performance, especially for an African team. It has never happened, so that means this team is strong. When you see player by player, they are all playing in big teams.
“I read today for an example that Sofyan Amrabat will go to Barcelona. So that means they have high-quality quality players. Testing ourselves against those players is very important for our team.” he explained.
“If we lose that game, it’s okay we lost it. But I think for us it will be a good game to learn a pot again. We know what we have to do and where we have to improve in the next months.”
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