Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has spoken out about the key lesson he has learnt at the ongoing 2023 AFCON finals in Ivory Coast.
The continental elite football competition of CAF is edging closer to being completed as only four teams, Bafana Bafana, Nigeria, DR Congo and Ivory Coast, are left.
The semi-finals will be played this evening – Wednesday, 7 February. SA will face Nigeria [19:00], while the host nation Ivory Coast takes on DR Congo [22:00].
The final will be played on Sunday, 11 February, at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé as the new African champions will be crowned.
Broos was surprised that the so-called big teams failed to make an impression. However, he lauded the progress that was made by the smaller nations over the past years.
HUGO BROOS SAYS MANY SMALL TEAMS HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE PAST YEARS
Tunisia, Algeria and Ghana were all eliminated in the group stages. Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal and Egypt were knocked out of the competition in the Last 16. To add, underdogs like Cape Verde, Namibia and Mauritania all made it to the knockout stages.
“Have I learnt something in this tournament? I think, for me, the most surprising thing is that so many big countries were out very soon in the tournament,” said Broos.
“For me, the reason is that those little countries made a lot of progression in the last years. When I see that in the quarter-finals, teams like Cape Verde won the group stage with teams; Ghana and Egypt in the group, I think several years ago it was impossible.
“It’s not only those big countries who can dominate AFCON anymore. No, they [small teams] worked very hard in the last years; we see them now.
“We were a little bit lucky [in the knockouts]. Maybe Cape Verde would be in the semi-finals or Equatorial Guinea. That means it’s a good thing for African football. I think that also little teams can go to AFCON with a goal.”
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