Despite sharing the memories of the 2017 AFCON final victory over Egypt with Cameroon, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has cautioned against underestimating the current side of the The Pharaohs.
South Africa will take on Egypt in their second Group B match at the Grand Stade D’Agadir on Friday afternoon with kick-off set for 17:00 CAT. They beat Angola 2-1 in their first match of the group stage campaign on Monday evening.
For coach Hugo Broos, the match against Egypt on Friday also brings back the good memories of his first AFCON trophy with the Indomitable Lions. Under Broos, Cameroon beat Egypt 2-1 to win their fifth AFCON title in Gabon back in 2017.
However, the Belgian mentor will now meet the Pharaohs with his confident Bafana Bafana side, believing a lot has changed since he beat them almost a decade ago.
HUGO BROOS TO MEET EGYPT MANY YEARS AFTER AFCON TRIUMPH
“It’s always nice to play against an opponent that you have beaten before,” Broos told kournalists in Morocco on Thursday.
“But this was eight years ago. So first of all, I am not a coach of Cameroon anymore. Secondly, the Egyptian team has changed a lot. There is an eight-year difference.
“So you can’t say now we are okay, now we beat Egypt in the final eight years ago, and therefore now we have an advantage. If you compare the team of Egypt then and now, there is a big difference. There were good players at the time, but there were not the players of the level like [Mohamed] Salah, [Omar] Marmoush, there is a difference.
“Okay it’s nice for me [as I won the AFCON title by edging Egypt] but on the other side we have to be ready tomorrow [Friday] to play a very good team and we have to beat them because it should give us qualification for the next round. But yeah, it’s just a memory for me but not more than that.”
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