Broos Emphasis Strong Performance Against Egypt
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has emphasized that his team needs to replicate the performance they showed in the second half against Angola when they face Egypt on Boxing Day.
Bafana opened their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 2-1 victory against Angola in Group B on Monday.
Despite taking the lead early through Oswin Appollis, Bafana seemed to relax and allowed Angola to mount a comeback.
However, Broos’ side managed to correct that in the second half as they played well and managed to secure a victory through Lyle Foster’s well-taken goal from outside the box, assisted by Tshepang Moremi in the last 10 minutes of the game.
The win over Angola has set up a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash against Egypt, who also secured a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe, on Friday.
Broos is confident that his team can build on the momentum they gained from their win over Angola and is hopeful that they can avoid a repeat of their first-half performance.
“I think in the next game we have to play as we played in the second half against Angola,” Broos said after the game.
“In the first half again, I don’t know why, but we were sleeping. This is not South Africa that I’m used to; there was no depth in our game, and we were losing the ball easily.
“We allowed the opponent to put pressure on us. That’s what happened in the first half; maybe it was good, and we had a good wake-up call after the first 45 minutes.
“So, I don’t think what happened will happen again in the next games.”
The 1996 African champions will be looking to continue their unbeaten streak against a formidable Egyptian side that has a rich history of success in the tournament.
Broos also reacted to his long unbeaten run in Bafana since his appointment in May 2021.
Bafana Bafana have now played 27 games without a single loss, their longest unbeaten run in history.
“This is a nice record, but it’s not less or not more, so I don’t look at that,” Broos added.
“The more matches we remain unbeaten, the shorter we will be to a defeat. This is normal, so it’s not that we are doing it to be more and more unbeaten.
“We just want to win every game, and that’s our philosophy that we also try to show on the pitch, as you saw in the second half. So again, it’s very nice, and we are very happy with it.
“But if you ask me what you want, more games unbeaten or winning AFCON, I think you already know what I will answer you. So again it’s nice to see that, but for me it’s not more about numbers.”
