Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has stated why he is crossing his fingers for Orlando Pirates to be booted out of the Carling Knockout Cup.
The Buccaneers face Richards Bay FC in the Beer Cup semi-final tie at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
They come up against the Natal Rich Boyz, who knocked them out of this tournament at the quarter-final stage in 2023 via the penalty shootout. That could inspire Ronnie Gabriel’s side to cause another upset.
It is a crucial match for the Soweto giants, whose coach Abdeslam Ouaddou would want to avoid elimination from another major competition after the CAF Champions League failure.
WHY IS BROOS PRAYING FOR A PIRATES UPSET?
However, Broos wants to see Pirates exiting this tournament. Reaching the Carling Knockout final means Pirates players will be active on December 6, two days before Bafana players are expected to report for the 2025 AFCON camp.
The Belgian has been clashing with the PSL over postponing the Beer Cup final to give his players some rest before commencing AFCON preparations.
Pirates are likely to dominate the South Africa squad for the continental tournament. Broos has picked nine players from the Buccaneers for the upcoming international friendly match against Zambia on Saturday, 15 November in Eastern Cape.
“Last AFCON was even worse, they played on the 31st of December and we started preparations on the 4th of January or something like that. So yes, we don’t have much collaboration from PSL to stop all those things a little bit earlier,” said Broos.
“I asked now to stop the competition [Carling Knockout] on the 4th of December, but no, they have to play the final of that Carling Cup thing on the 6th.
“So, I am very happy. I’m sorry I’m saying that, but I am happy that [Mamelodi] Sundowns are out and that [Kaizer] Chiefs are out. So, I hope that maybe Pirates can be out and then the guys can have a bit of some days’ rest,” added the 2017 AFCON-winning coach with Cameroon.
“It is so difficult if you ask months before the programme is made, it is so difficult to say, ‘okay, we go to AFCON, this is important, the coach asked to stop the competition three or four days earlier.’ So, they didn’t do it two years ago, they didn’t do it now.”
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