Hugo Broos appears as though he is ready to settle for second place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations group stages which kick-off in December this year.
Bafana Bafana have been paired with Egypt, Angola and Southern Africa counterpart Zimbabwe in Group B, where the South Africa head coach has tipped the Pharaohs as favourites to win the group.
“When I look at our opponents for Afcon, I think that Egypt is the favourite to win the group. They didn’t do very well at the last Afcon, they didn’t perform like everybody expected and they were very soon out of the tournament.
But I think in the last year and a half they have built a very good team. They did very well in the qualifiers, so they will be the team to beat for first place,” Broos told Safa media.
“Then we have Zimbabwe again. This is the fourth time that we play against Zimbabwe. We played against Zimbabwe in the qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, we played against Zimbabwe for the qualification of the last Afcon, but they were suspended, so there was no game between them and us.
“We are playing against Zimbabwe in the qualifiers for the next World Cup. We have them again now in the next Afcon. Zimbabwe is a neighbour of South Africa and it’s always a very difficult game for us. On the other hand, in all the games we played already against Zimbabwe, we played one draw, and we won three times.
“So, winning against Zimbabwe is very possible in the Afcon. And then we have Angola. Angola is for me a team I don’t know really very well. So, it will be very important to do a good analysis of our opponent Angola, and to be well prepared to play that game.”
Broos, who guided South Africa to a third-place finish in last year’s edition has set his targets for the upcoming tournament.
“In general, I think we can be satisfied. It is not a very easy group. On the other hand, I think we have a great opportunity to qualify for the next round of the Afcon.
“And then as you know, in the Afcon, after the group stages, anything is possible. So, we will do everything to do better than the last Afcon,” Broos said.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos shares his thoughts after the confirmation of the 2025 AFCON draw on Monday night.
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) January 28, 2025
Bafana Bafana have been drawn in Group B and they will face:
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇦🇴 Angola
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe #BafanaPride pic.twitter.com/yw1t8HUCek
