Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos was left in awe after inspecting the Peter Mokaba Stadium pitch last week, where they are set to host Lesotho.
The New Peter Mokaba Stadium has not been available since December after the field was severely damaged during a concert and has since gone under a full rehabilitation process.
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Broos was mindful when Polokwane was confirmed as they next host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Likuena but said he was marvelled by the state of the field when they inspected it last week.
“So, the moment they told me about Polokwane, the first thing I said, because I saw games there on the pitch, I said first thing, if the pitch is not better, we don’t go,” Broos said.
“And people started working… the pitch is… fantastic! I was there last week, beautiful, really, really beautiful. So, we don’t have an excuse if we don’t have the result we want against Lesotho, saying the pitch is not good. No, no, no, the pitch is fantastic! They did fantastic work and I’m very happy with it.”
South Africa is currently second in Group C with seven points, level with Rwanda and Benin after four games played.
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They host Lesotho who are in fourth place, with five points on Friday 21 March, before travelling to Abidjan to face Benin at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny four days later.
“We’re on a key point, [chasing] third [win], in match day five, it’s always a key point. I will not say it will be the key point, but it can be – if we can achieve six wins [for both games] we will make a big step into qualification, that I am sure,” he said about the importance of this upcoming international week.
“But we have to do it, so it’s very important games, very tough games, don’t underestimate Lesotho, maybe not on quality – but mentality, it’s a team who fights 90 minutes for every meter and certainly when they play South Africa, they will do one step more, I’m sure.
“Then we play Benin, where we’ve had it difficult against Benin, one year ago, we won 2-1 but it was a difficult game – the circumstances are different now, we made a lot of progression, but it will be a difficult game also, so let’s hope we can achieve what we want and we’re able to do it. But in both games mentality will be more important than quality.”
