Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says it would be a dream to win a second African Cup of Nations title in his second tournament.
Broos won the 2017 AFCON with Cameroon in Gabon at his first attempt at the tournament in what many deemed as a shock triumph.
Speaking to media from Cameroon they stated there wasn’t much hope for what Broos achieved heading into the tournament.
They felt he disrespected the country, and local players and dropped some of their biggest names while the likes of Andre Onana was not used as a first-choice goalkeeper.
However, he went on to galvanise a modest squad to victory led by Benjamin Moukandjo as they won 2-1 against Egypt in the final.
“When you won it once, you want to win it twice – it’s a fantastic feeling winning an AFCON, and I said already before, I’m a European but the intensity and joy, everything around winning AFCON is unique, it’s really unique,” Broos said at the pre-match press conference in Khorogo.
“So it was a fantastic experience six years ago, I dream of it doing it the second time but saying is much easier than doing it, let’s start tomorrow and do our best and see where we arrive.”
South Africa opens Group E against Mali tomorrow, after the Tunisia vs Namibia game at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
“I think everyone is happy we’re one day before the game, you know there’s always preparation but we’re looking forward to playing – we’re aware we have a tough opponent tomorrow with Mali,” Broos said about the opener.
“On the other side we believe in our chances and I hope we can achieve our best level so we can win the game, it’s very important to start with victory.”
Vice-captain Percy Tau echoed the sentiments of the coach stating the squad is excited and feel they are on the right track.
“We’ve prepared well even though we have another session today to do the final touches, everyone is looking forward to the tournament and the first game. We want to start well.
“It’s a dream for me to win it and I’d love to win it, our squad shares the same dream, I’d love to win it.”
Bafana and the West Africans fo battle at 22h00 on Tuesday evening.
