Coach Hugo Broos has sent a clear message to the rest of the continent ahead of Friday’s blockbuster Group B clash against Egypt – Bafana Bafana are not in Morocco to make up the numbers.
Speaking from the team’s base in Agadir, the 73-year-old Belgian mentor referenced the ‘giant-killing’ trend seen at the previous AFCON in the Ivory Coast to remind his squad and their opponents that reputation alone won’t decide the outcome.
Broos pointed to the 2023 edition, where several of Africa’s most decorated nations suffered humbling early exits.
“We didn’t come here just to exit after the group stages,” Broos told journalists. “As we saw during the AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, many giants, including Egypt, Cameroon, and Ghana, fell early. I don’t think those teams will make the same mistakes this time, and the competition will be even tougher.”
Despite acknowledging that the heavyweights will be more cautious this year, Broos remains adamant that South Africa has the staying power to compete with the best. Both South Africa and Egypt enter Friday’s match with momentum after hard-fought 2-1 victories in their opening fixtures.
South Africa edged out Angola thanks to a late strike from Lyle Foster, while a stoppage-time goal from Mohamed Salah rescued three points for the Pharaohs against Zimbabwe.
The winner of Friday’s match at the Grand Stade d’Agadir will almost certainly secure a spot in the Round of 16. While Egypt is the record seven-time champion, history favours South Africa. Bafana Bafana are undefeated in their last six meetings with the North African giants, including a famous 1-0 knockout win in 2019.
BROOS NOT FAZED BY EGYPT’S BIG NAMES
While much of the pre-match talk has centred on Egyptian captain Mo Salah, Broos insisted his side would not be distracted by individual stars.
“We’re not focused on one player, we’re focused on the team. It would be a big mistake to focus on one individual of the Egyptian team. We all know how good Salah is, we all know how good Marmoush is – we all know how good Trezeguet is. It’s such a good team,” he added.
“If we focus on one player? We’re not prepared to beat a team and not say ‘oh Salah or Marmoush didn’t play good in the game’, for us it’s just to focus on beating the team [Egypt].”
RELATED STORY: Broos reminisces on AFCON triumph as Bafana aim to topple Egypt