Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says South Africa has what it takes to spring the next surprise of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and beat Morocco in the last-16.
Broos has faced Morocco twice since taking over as head coach of South Africa, which both came in the qualifiers of the tournament, the 2-1 loss in Rabat and the 2-1 win at FNB Stadium, which was their first defeat after reaching the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
Having won their group containing DR Congo, Tanzania and Zambia, the Atlas Lions are the only North African side remaining in the competition and are among the hot favourites for the title alongside Senegal.
“I think it’s an important game for both teams, we’re in a tournament now where it’s win or lose so it’s important for both teams, we’re aware of the difficult task now, they’re number one in Africa with high-class players,” Broos said ahead of the game.
“It will be difficult but we’ve seen surprises at AFCON, in the last few days, big countries are home, Egypt and Cameroon are home, it’s possible for surprises, we beat Morocco a year ago in Johannesburg, and we can do it when we play our best level.
“We believe tomorrow it’s possible to beat Morocco, but we need to be at our best level and we can beat this Morocco.”
Sphephelo ‘Yaya’ Sithole, who was the representative of South Africa for the pre-match press conference echoed the sentiments of Broos.
“I think everybody knows that tomorrow’s game will be difficult for both teams but I think if we can bring our A game tomorrow, we can be able to get the best result, it’s what we need for tomorrow’s game,” Sithole said in a brief opening statement.
The two sides meet at Le Stade Laurent Pokou on Tuesday evening at 22h00 South African time.
