Broos Sets Sights On Surviving Group Stage With Confidence
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos stressed that progressing to the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations is the team’s primary objective, acknowledging the tournament’s unpredictability and the role luck plays in success.
This comes after Bafana won their first game of the tournament against Angola on Monday.
This marks Broos’ second AFCON outing as Bafana’s coach, building on the momentum of their bronze medal win in the 2023 edition in the Ivory Coast.
The next game for the 1996 African champions in their Group B will be a top-of-the-table clash against the seven-time African champions, Egypt, on Boxing Day.
The Pharaohs also won their opening game against Zimbabwe on Monday.
“For us, the most important thing now is to survive those group stages and go to the second round,” Broos said.
“If we can do that, then we will see, because we know this is a tough tournament, and sometimes you need luck also.
“We will see what we can do, but I’m confident because of what I saw in the second half, and I want to see better, better football.
“But again, the passion and aggressiveness were there in our game, and that really makes me happy.”
Against Angola in their opening game, Bafana had a sloppy start despite scoring an early goal through Oswin Appollis, as they seemed to relax and allowed Angola to come back, but they managed to fix that in the second half.
The Belgian tactician also added that his team’s sloppy start in the first half served as a wake-up call ahead of their next game against Egypt.
“You always know when you start a tournament that it’s also about players’ feelings and how things are going,” Broos added.
“We played against a team that plays differently from an average African team. It’s not African football that they play; it’s tactical passing football, and there’s also power in that team.
“For us, maybe we were a little bit surprised after the goal we scored rather soon in the game. It seems like we thought that things were done, and we had to wake up, as I told my players to wake up, and I believe my voice was louder.
“So, I think the players were cautious that if they could continue like that, then they could lose the game. I think you saw their reaction, and then that will not happen anymore, and luckily for us, we won that game, and we don’t have damage, but that cannot happen anymore. I’m happy with the wake-up call, and also, we managed to win.”
