Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has guaranteed that the squad will be ready to face Mali in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations opener.
South Africa had one preparation match after their camp in the Western Cape at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS), a goalless draw against Lesotho.
However, Broos says there are no issues around that, having failed to secure another practice match or more illustrious opponents before taking flight to Ivory Coast.
“Tomorrow the match we will play, last week was preparation, nothing else,” he said confidently.
“So we worked very well and renewed with players they were tired, the result wasn’t important. I’m sure my players are ready but we are playing a tough team, like I said, it’s going to be difficult.
“I’m confident and the players want to play this game, they are excited, we know everything about Mali with technology, it’s up to us to take advantage of their weaknesses and show the mentality to see out the game plan.”
Broos also said he’s more prepared heading into the tournament, personally, having won it in his first attempt with Cameroon at Gabon 2017.
“This is a different feeling because six years ago I didn’t know what would come, it was a tournament [I never experienced before], so now I know everything about it [in my second one],” Broos said on the differences between 2017 and 2023 AFCON preparations.
“On the other side, what I feel and what I see in training, I know the players will be ready – this is not a guarantee to win the game, but they will be ready and we’ll see after 90 minutes what the result will be.”
South Africa and Mali do battle this evening at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium (22h00).
