Hugo Broos, the coach of Bafana Bafana, urges the team’s fans to show the necessary support and understanding if they lose to Morocco in the next African Cup of Nations qualifier. He also asks them not to criticize the national team.
The South African coach sees the game against the Atlas Lions as a significant challenge despite the fact that both teams have already secured a spot in the AFCON. Regardless of the outcome, it emphasizes the valuable learning opportunity of competing against high-quality players to identify areas for improvement before the upcoming tournament.
« Don’t start criticising the team if we lose, what happened last year against France was not honest, it was not fair. We were playing last year against the world champions, we are playing against now a team that came third [4ème] at the World Cup. It’s not a little performance, it’s a fantastic performance, certainly for an African team. It never happens. So that means that the team is strong and [surtout] when you see player by player all moving to big teams. I read that for example [Sofyan] Amrabat is going to Barcelona, so that means you have high quality players and we are testing ourselves against those players is very important for our team. Again, if we lose that game, okay we lose it but I think for us it would have been a good game for us to learn a lot again ».
Hugo Broos, talking about a potential defeat to Morocco.
« On the other side, if we should win, they will think we have a world [de classe] team, this is not true either. It should be very good. It should give us a boost if we can win against Morocco, but again this is not the moment to tell or to say ‘oh we are a big team now,’ not at all. We are still have a lot of work to do it and we will do it, I’m sure because the guys are open to everything and we will improve ».
South-Africa’s coach talking about the possibility of a win against Morocco.
Thus, as the Bafana Bafana prepare to face Morocco, Broos acknowledges the progress his team has made, despite the fact that there is still work to be done. Recalling last year’s (2-1) defeat against Morocco, he insists on the importance of this next match as an indicator of progress. He encourages his team to focus on their performance rather than the score and the importance of continuous improvement. With a committed and open-minded squad, Broos remains confident that Bafana Bafana will strive to excel and use the game against Morocco as a step towards a successful campaign at AFCON.
