Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos believes his side can handle the pressure of being a team to watch at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Bafana no longer a surprise package
Broos’ side went into the last Africa Cup of Nations without too many expectations, and surprised many by finishing third at the tournament in the Ivory Coast.
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Now, however, after a comfortable qualification for this year’s AFCON and having made it to the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals next year, it is likely teams will be more aware of the threat Bafana pose.
South Africa left for Morocco yesterday, and will play their first Group B AFCON match against Angola in Marrakech on Monday.
“I agree that next Monday, when the game starts against Angola, the pressure will be higher than two years ago, when we played Mali,” Broos told the media on Tuesday after Bafana had beaten Ghana 1-0 at Dobsonville Stadium in a training match.
“But I think the team can resist that pressure. We showed that in the World Cup qualifiers, where in very important games we were under pressure and did well. I am thinking about the game at home against Nigeria and the last game against Rwanda. So this team has experience.
“I am not worried … but we will see, we feel our opponents will play in a totally different way than they did two years ago.”
Broos admitted that the team did not play as well as they could have on Tuesday against a second-string Ghana. The Black Stars, who have not qualified for the 2025 AFCON finals, mainly fielded their African Nations Championship side against Bafana.
‘I think we can do much better’
The game was not even regarded as an official Fifa match. Bafana did dominate play and Sipho Mbule’s 58th minute cracker was well worth the admission fee. But Ghana did cause Bafana problems and could have levelled close to the end when Rudolf Mensah’s shot came back off the inside of the post.
“As with many times in games before big tournaments, it was not the game we wanted to see,” said Broos.
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“We are happy with the result, it is always better to go to Morocco with a victory … but I think we can do much better than we did today. Maybe the tournament next week was already playing in the heads of the players.”
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