Broos On Beating Egypt With Cameroon: That Was Long Ago

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was all smiles when reminded of his Africa Cup of Nations triumph with Cameroon in 2017, describing it as a special memory — but insisting his focus is firmly on creating another by beating Egypt once again.

Bafana Bafana face Egypt in their second Group B match at the Africa Cup of Nations at Stade de Agadir on Friday, with both sides heading into the encounter on the back of opening-match victories.

South Africa edged Angola 2-1 on Monday, while Egypt also claimed a 2-1 win over Zimbabwe after coming from behind.

For Broos, the meeting with Egypt inevitably brings back memories of the 2017 AFCON final, when he guided Cameroon to continental glory.

Mohamed Salah, who scored the winner against Zimbabwe on Monday, was part of that Egyptian side alongside Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, but they were beaten 2-1 by the Indomitable Lions.

Egypt had taken the lead in the final through Mohamed Elneny’s close-range finish in the 22nd minute, before Nicolas N’Koulou headed Cameroon level in the 59th minute.

With two minutes remaining, Vincent Aboubakar produced a moment of brilliance, controlling a bouncing ball, dispossessing his marker and firing a right-footed shot past legendary goalkeeper Essam El Hadary to seal the title.

“It is always nice to play against an opponent you’ve beaten before,” Broos said with a smile.

“But that was eight years ago. First of all, I’m not the coach of Cameroon anymore, and secondly, the Egypt team has changed a lot.

“It’s an eight-year difference. You can’t say now, ‘We beat Egypt in the final eight years ago, so we have an advantage.’ Not at all.

“When you compare Egypt then to Egypt now, it’s a big difference. They had good players at that time, but not at the level of Mohamed Salah or Omar Marmoush. That’s the difference.

“Of course, it’s a nice memory for me, but we have to be ready on Friday to face a very good team. We have to try to beat them because that would put us in a strong position to qualify for the next round.

“But yes, it’s a nice memory.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool star Salah and Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush were the difference-makers in Egypt’s win over Zimbabwe, scoring the goals that secured all three points.

Despite acknowledging the quality of Egypt’s world-class attackers, Broos insisted Bafana would not focus on stopping individual players, warning that such an approach would be “suicidal”.

“We’re not focused on one player; we’re focused on the team,” said Broos.

“It would be a big mistake to focus on one individual in the Egyptian team. We all know how good Salah is, how good Marmoush is, how good Trezeguet is — and there are others too. It’s a very strong team.

“Why should we focus on one player? We have to prepare to beat a team, not hope that Salah or Marmoush has a bad game.

“For us, it’s about the team. We don’t really focus on one player or another.”