Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos admits nobody will be happy if they don’t improve on their semi-final run of the Africa Cup of Nations in the 2025 edition in Morocco.
Broos led South Africa to a third-place finish in 2023 in Ivory Coast, losing out to Nigeria on penalties in the semi-final, before beating DR Congo in the third/fourth place game.
And after breezing to qualification for the biennial event and securing a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the veteran tactician admits South Africa come into the tournament with a much higher reputation – which teams will not take lightly.
“What do we want to achieve? Nobody in South Africa would be happy if we come back home after the group stages… no South African will be happy if we don’t reach the semi-finals, because we did it [in 2023],” Broos said.
“So, our ambition is to do as good as last time, minimum and we will see where we end, I said it already, the first AFCON two years ago and I repeat it now, don’t underestimate any team who is an AFCON – it’s a very tough tournament, very intense.
“And sometimes you need a bit of luck – we had it two years ago, in some games, think about Cape Verde, we could have lost that game, but you need in a tournaments some moments, some games you need a bit of luck, so if what is all present, I think we can achieve again what we achieved two years ago.”
Broos feels confident that their away performances against the Elephants, Algeria and Nigeria during his tenure shows the level of Bafana, as a nation on the same level as the continents elite nations.
“We have a good team, we have confidence, it will be tough, tougher than two years ago because our opponents will start the game different than two years ago, we’re not the South African team of two years ago, everyone knows South Africa is a good team,” he said.
“But we saw what happened in the last months, years, we played in Ivory Coast, we played in Algeria, Nigeria, the top teams in Africa and we did well. So, we know what our status is at the moment, it’s not anymore, the Bafana of two years ago.
“Our opponents will be more motivated to win against us now and it’s another step we have to make now – and I think my team will be able to do that and with some luck, we can achieve the same thing and maybe do better.”
Bafana open their AFCON campaign against Angola on 22 December at the Marrakesh Stadium in Morocco.
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