Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained why he’s excited about playing friendly games against Namibia and DR Congo.
A few months ago, the Belgian coach warned SA about playing countries that wouldn’t pose trickier assignments for his side.
“With all due respect, we mustn’t play against Botswana, no! We need to have teams like this [referring to Morocco],” he said as quoted by the Sowetan LIVE after they defeated Morocco in June.
Logically, one would argue that Botswana and Namibia are almost equivalent.
However, Broos is content with playing the Brave Warriors, who just like the Leopards, are one step away from qualifying for AFCON. Thus, he believes this makes them strong opponents
Both Namibia and DR Congo are leading their groups. Peter Shalulile’s side will be watching closely when Cameroon and Burundi meet on 12 September. A win for one of the two will mean, the other one gets eliminated while the victors grab a spot in AFCON along with Namibia.
Meanwhile, for DR Congo to qualify, they need a win or draw and wait for a result between Mauritania and Gabon.
WHY HUGO BROOS IS ‘HAPPY’ TO PLAY NAMIBIA AND DR CONGO
“I’m happy with the opponents of next week, they are two teams who qualified or who nearly qualified for AFCON,” said Broos.
“That means that they are strong teams. As I always said before, I like to play against more stronger teams. It’s better for us, you become better by playing against such teams.
“The results are not in the first place, taking into account all the players who can be present now. And also because we will change a lot in those two games but that doesn’t mean that we will be happy if we should lose.
“So, we will play for victories like we did in the last year. And I have to [remind] you that we played, in the last year, seven games. We won five, we drew two and we don’t have one defeat.
“So, that means that Bafana Bafana is on the right way, we are progressing. But we still have to progress to be good, certainly already in November because it’s very important that we start the qualifiers for the World Cup, hopeful with two victories.
“And also those two games will be a preparation of what will happen in January in Ivory Coast. So, also there, we want to have good performances and try to have good results.”
RELATED STORY: Broos discusses department that delights him in Bafana Bafana squad
