Coach Hugo Broos, who admitted his team had been soft at moments during the group stages of this Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco, yesterday insisted his charges were ready to turn it on for the last-16 encounter against Cameroon tonight (9pm SA time). South Africa went to the tournament on the back of convincing performances against Lesotho, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Rwanda to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada. There was also a good friendly win over Zambia, but that dynamism and devastating form has been missing in Morocco.
There will be no second chances against Cameroon at the El Barid Stadium in Rabat. In their three group matches, Bafana beat Angola and Zimbabwe and lost to Egypt. But the Indomitable Lions present a different profile with their own dynamics.
Broos admitted Bafana were not at their best during the group stages, but he expects an improved performance tonight. “If you saw our performances during the group stages, a little bit more was expected. We have spoken about those issues, and what I saw at training over the last week was totally different.
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“Because of the progression this team has made, where we have been winning matches, maybe players and I thought we would win the next one. Because of that, maybe we were not fully focused. If you are not focused, you don’t play at the level that you are capable of.
I have to win this game and that’s all that counts on Sunday. No sentiments for Cameroon. I’m the coach of South Africa and all I want is to win this game for South Africa “I am confident going into this match because of what I saw this week at training.
On Sunday you are going to see a different Bafana from the one you saw during the group stages.” Cameroon, who beat Gabon and Mozambique and drew with Ivory Coast, are physically imposing, and it remains to be seen if Bafana are going to take them on or stick to their ball-playing philosophy. If Broos wants to get around Cameroon by playing football and avoid the physical confrontation, then a player like Sipho Mbule comes to mind as one of the playmakers in the team.
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