Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos discusses the availability of key players ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations last 16 clash against Morocco, a nation that made the continent proud when they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup two years ago.
South Africa head into this do or die Afcon fixture fired up and inspired to go even further in the Ivory Coast hosted tournament, knowing that they have an opportunity to pick up another famous North African scalp.
“So, we had two problems. First of all, it was Mothobi (Mvala). He had (suffered) a direct kick but it’s not a big problem. The other problem is Khuliso (Mudau), he was limping but has gone for tests and treatment and already this morning, I didn’t see much problem so I’m optimistic on Tuesday, Khuliso will be back,” Broos told the media in a press conference on Friday.
Morocco were in the same group with Bafana in the Afcon qualifiers and a win was shared by either side on those two occasions, as Broos now backs his charges to upset the form book again.
“That we can beat them, that we can beat them. We have a team capable of beating them, we didn’t have it in the first match in Morocco when we lost.
“The situation then was perhaps too overwhelmed for the team because it was a big difference in quality, but in the second game in Johannesburg we showed an improvement, we showed we can compete so I’m confident in this team,” Broos said.
Skipper and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams also addressed the media, and he too has much to be excited about, after weighing in with two-clean sheets in his last two games. The Mamelodi Sundowns star went on to praise his players and emphasized their team work.
“Not only for myself, but as a team. We obviously pride ourselves on our defensive work and work very hard on it in training. But a big-up should also go to the front players.
“I mean, guys like Percy Tau, Evidence Makgopa and Themba Zwane have been crucial in chasing down the players, fighting for every ball and making sure the team defends from the front.
“So, it’s just the amazing work behind the scenes, from the analysis, coaching staff, it’s a collective. You saw it in the last five minutes of the game against Tunisia.
“The guys were so tired but you had your Tau and Thapelo Maseko still running after every ball and closing down and that pushes the whole team so it’s credit to the whole team,” Williams said.
In their last meeting, South Africa had defeated Morocco 2-1 to top their Afcon qualifying group, but many critics still pointed out that the Atlas Lions had nothing but pride to play for in that game last year. So, this will be an ideal opportunity for Bafana to prove that that result was no fluke and they deserve to be up there with the best teams on the continent.
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