France boss Didier Deschamps says his charges are aware of the threat posed by the quartet of Keagan Dolly, Evidence Makgopa, Bandile Shandu and Victor Letsoalo ahead of Tuesday night’s international friendly.
The world champions host South Africa at the Stade Pierre Stadium with kick-off set for 21:00.
The 53-year-old mentor explained in Monday’s pre-match press conference that intends to keep tabs on Kaizer Chiefs‘ Keagan Dolly, Baroka’s Makgopa and Orlando Pirates’ Shandu when the two sides go toe-to-toe in Lille.
Deschamps went on to say they are not taking anything for granted and noted that Hugo Broos’ influence has been seen from their last game.
“I know the offensive players [in the Bafana Bafana team] better, the forwards,” Deschamps told Safa’s official website.
“Keagan Dolly is an interesting player. The two forwards, Letsoalo and the other one is Makgopa.”
The Frenchman admitted he had people on the stands taking notes on his behalf when Bafana played against Guinea last Friday.
“Yes, of course, we had people from our team watching your game [against Guinea]. But I do not think it will be the same players who will face France,” he added.
“Even though this is a friendly game, we are preparing for the 2022 World Cup. This gives us the opportunity to play against an African team, and this is not always the case for us. For example, the last time [we played against South Africa] was in 2010 at the World Cup.
“In the next World Cup we may play against African nations and those teams might have the same qualities, the same style of play that South Africa has.”
The Les Bleus (The Blues) coach anticipates Broos to send out a different line-up from the one that played on Friday.
“South Africa has a new generation of players. To me, it explains why South Africa did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations [earlier this year] and the World Cup. There are a lot of local-based players who do not have a lot of international experience. But obviously, we have watched a lot of South Africa games, several of their last games, and I also watched their last game against Guinea.
“But I do not think it will be the same players because there were a lot of young players on the pitch against Guinea.”
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