Let’s make another surprise, says Bafana coach Broos

Bafana Bafana’s coach believes it will be a tight game despite the obvious gap in pedigree and their captain urged the team to take lessons from their shock won over Egypt four years ago when they meet Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 on Tuesday.

Morocco, forged into a unit by coach Walid Regragui from a powerful player base created from arguably the best, almost certainly the most expensive, development system on the continent, became the first African World Cup semifinalists in Qatar in December 2022.

They are ranked No 1 in Africa and 13th in the world.

Bafana did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup, are ranked 12th in Africa and 66th in the world, and, apart from sporadic big results such as their last 16 shock win over hosts Egypt at the 2019 Nations Cup, have underperformed to the extent of battling to qualify for the tournament.

But coach Hugo Broos’ side put up a fight, progressing past Group E in Ivory Coast after a 2-0 opening defeat against Mali, a 4-0 win against Namibia and a 0-0 draw against Tunisia to end in second place to the Malians.

SA have a good head-to-head record against Morocco (three wins, three draws and two defeats in eight matches), and even recent clashes have been close. In the qualifiers, Bafana lost 2-1 in Rabat and stunned the World Cup semifinalists in Johannesburg, though that match was a dead rubber.

Broos believes Bafana can make a game of it again at Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro (10pm).

“It will be a 50/50 game,” the coach said. “Maybe Morocco are not what they were at the World Cup, but I think they want to win Afcon.

“And maybe for the last time, in a way of speaking, they will achieve their highest level.

“They were not really very good in the group stages, but it’s still a very good team and I know on Tuesday they also know what is coming next, so they will be doing everything, and with the quality they have it will be a tough battle.

“But it’s a football match and what has happened here in the last few weeks at Afcon [in terms of upsets] is amazing, so let’s make another surprise on Tuesday.”

This Nations Cup has reinforced that tightly drilled teams who put in the work and show commitment to a clever game plan can upset the odds against stronger sides.

Bafana produced such a performance in dethroning the Pharaohs to stun 80,000 home supporters in Cairo International Stadium four years ago.

Their captain at this tournament, Ronwen Williams, came into his own between the posts four years ago. He was asked how Bafana defeated Egypt, and if there are similarities to another clash against North African giants.

“We just believed in our structure,” he said. “The main thing was we worked so hard on our structure for that game. And just being a team.

“If you want to be individuals against such a wonderful side you will suffer. And we were just a team from the first minute to the last, and the subs who came in did amazing work.

“We just had the belief that we could write history for ourselves. And we’re facing a similar situation now where no-one is giving us a chance to beat them [Morocco].”

Morocco topped Group F, beating Tanzania 3-0, drawing 1-1 against the Democratic Republic of Congo and ending with a 1-0 win against Zambia.

The winners of Tuesday’s clash meet Cape Verde or Mauritania in the quarterfinals in Yamoussoukro on Saturday.