Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has sent a message to Evidence Makgopa’s “doubters” after the striker scored in the AFCON’s Round of 16 against Morocco.
South Africa downed Morocco 2-0 on Tuesday night at the Stade Laurent Pokou to book a place in the quarter-finals. Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena rattled the back of the net for the 1996 champions.
The Orlando Pirates striker Makgopa has scored four goals in total in over ten caps he has for the national team.
The Belgian tactician praised Makgopa for the improvement he’s shown, recalling the criticism the forward has dealt with when receiving Bafana call-ups. He described the 23-year-old as a “good striker” and a hard worker.
HUGO BROOS SAYS EVIDENCE MAKGOPA IS IMPROVING
“A nice goal from Makgopa and those who doubted Makgopa when he was with us; I always believed in Makgopa,” said Broos.
“But when you work with this guy, Makgopa, he is a very good striker. Believe me. And he’s improving, he works hard, and he made a fantastic goal.”
Broos commended his side for growing in the tournament despite a nasty start as they lost their opening match to Mali. Bafana came back stronger in the second match, defeating the neighbouring country Namibia and drawing the last group stage tie against Tunisia.
‘I THINK SOUTH AFRICA GREW IN THE TOURNAMENT’
“I think I said maybe in the beginning of AFCON that it’s very important that you grow in the tournament,” he said. And I think South Africa grew in the tournament. We played against Mali, and we lost, but then, we were much better against Namibia and had a difficult game against Tunisia.
“Today against Morocco, so we become, every day, better and better. And this is very important.”
They face Cape Verde in the quarter-final on Saturday, 3 February, at 10:00 pm at the Stade Charles Konan Banny de Yamoussoukro.
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