Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says they are prepared to fight ugly on the artificial surface for maximum points over Rwanda at the Huye Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
South Africa arrived in Butare this morning after nearly ten hours of travelling ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The hosts drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe last week, while Bafana secured a 2-1 win over Benin at the Moses Mabhida Stadium – which means they can end the international period leading as the only team in Group C with six points.
“Tomorrow we need 11 warriors on the field, we don’t have to think about good football, nice football, we have to think about fighting and we’ll see tomorrow with which players we select, at the moment we have to wait for the last training,” Broos told SAFA media.
“Mothobi Mvala went out injured, I don’t know if he will be ready for tomorrow, Modiba was complaining about his knee before the Benin game – but he could play and I hope he can play again tomorrow.
“We also have Makgopa who went out against Benin, I think he will be ready for tomorrow but let’s first wait for training to see who will be 100% ready, I don’t think we can take risks on that [artificial] pitch, you have to be 100% fit to play.
“The ball bounces so much, we saw it’s difficult to play good football here, it will be fighting football.”
“I’m confident this team [can qualify for the World Cup], my confidence has grown in the last year, every camp I believe more and more, even though I changed [players] often in the past, but you see in the last camps it’s now the same players.
“It means I’ve found my team, as a coach, I am confident in the team, I’ve seen them playing in the last three or four games against good opponents, good games, so there’s quality and potential in this group.
“Sometimes they don’t believe in their qualities, I tell them all the time they are a quality group, they just need to believe and more and more I see they are doing it – it won’t be a normal game tomorrow, they must arrive with confidence and that is step one to victory.”
South Africa and Rwanda face off at 15h00 tomorrow.
