Bafana Bafana are under heavy preparation ahead of next Thursday’s opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Morocco. The game will Kick off at 19:00 GMT in Rabat’s Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
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The second game will be against Liberia on June 13 who are the other team in Group K after Zimbabwe were disqualified due to a Fifa ban.
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Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has been under criticism as football fans accuse him of excluding the in-form Mamelodi Sundowns duo of Andile Jali and Themba Zwane form his squa.
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“After our match against Ghana, there were critics. I didn’t understand it. And it was worse after our friendly games against Guinea and France. I can assure you critics don’t affect me. Because they’re short-sighted and their criticism is cheap. They said the coach has to resign because he doesn’t make right choices, so this is cheap.” Broos told the media before Bafana started training at Sturrock Park in Braamfontein on Wednesday.
“I can assure you that being criticised doesn’t put pressure on me… It motivates me to prove them wrong. I see what happened to Pitso [Mosimane] in Egypt… He won the Champions League two times. But today they killed him because he lost the final [to Wydad Casablanca]. So that’s life. I have been coaching for 35 years. So I am not impressed to see people criticising me.”
The Bafana coach said he would do his best to earn SA a slot at next year’s Afcon, to be hosted by Ivory Coast.
Broos also warned that being in a three-team pool doesn’t necessarily mean their journey will be a walk in the park.
“I will try to qualify for Afcon next year. We’re in a group with three teams. After the suspension of Zimbabwe, I heard people saying it will be easy for us to qualify. No! It won’t be easy. Maybe you can say we have more chances to qualify. But it won’t be easy… Nothing is easy, even if it’s three teams. It’s possible that with two victories against Liberia in September we qualify. But we can’t think it will just happen like that. We have to win.” Broos explained.