Fresh from Saturday’s famous 2-1 win over Morocco, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has called on SAFA to arrange friendlies against powerful opposition to help his team prepare for AFCON.
There are international breaks scheduled for September, October and November and Broos said it was time that SAFA stopped arranging games against teams like neighbours Botswana and raise the bar.
The win against Morocco, who were playing in a World Cup semi-final less than a year ago, showed what Bafana can do and Broos says he wants his team to keep challenging themselves against high-level opposition.
Speaking after the game Broos said: “There’s a FIFA window in September, October and November. We will also try to have some games in January before Afcon. But we now have to play against good opponents.
“With all due respect, we mustn’t play against Botswana, no! We need to have teams like Morocco now.
“We know that this is another level than Botswana with all due respect. This is what we have to do in our friendly games in September and October. We need those tougher opponents to make us stronger and to be ready for Afcon.”
Reflecting on the game which saw South Africa take the lead courtesy of an own-goal and then extend it through Zakhele Lepasa, Broos praised his team. “I’ve believed in them, even though some people didn’t believe in them and maybe because I made bad choices and I didn’t understand the South African culture.
“You don’t build a team in one day. You need time and, in that time, defeats can be very useful. We had some and they were very useful,” said the Belgian-born coach.
