Broos Wary Of “Technical” Angola Ahead Of AFCON Group B Opener

Bafana Bafana may not have lost to Angola in recent Africa Cup of Nations encounters, but head coach Hugo Broos remains wary of the threat they pose, particularly under their new coach, Patrice Beaumelle.

The Frenchman recently replaced Pedro Gonçalves, who guided Angola to the quarter-finals of the 2024 AFCON in Ivory Coast. Angola were narrowly eliminated by Nigeria at that stage, with Ademola Lookman’s strike sending the Super Eagles into the semi-finals, before Nigeria went on to beat Bafana Bafana on penalties.

Bafana Bafana will open their AFCON Group B campaign against Angola in Marrakech on Monday, hoping for a stronger start than in the 2024 edition, where they suffered a 2–0 defeat to Mali in their opening match.

Broos has repeatedly stressed the importance of starting well in the group stages, especially with record champions Egypt awaiting them in the second group match. Failure to secure a positive result early could pile pressure on his side.

Angola head into this fixture under Beaumelle having lost just once in five matches in charge — a friendly defeat to Argentina last month — while recording two wins and two draws. They also impressed in AFCON qualification, winning four of their six matches in a group that included Ghana, who finished bottom and failed to qualify for the tournament.

“I saw Angola playing in the qualifiers and I don’t even remember which teams they played at home,” said Broos. “They lost one match at home 1–0, but if they played that game 10 times, they would win nine times.

“So, it is a good team, you can be sure of that. They have some good players, they are very technical, and now with a new coach, he will always give something extra to the players.”

Bafana Bafana and Angola have met four times at AFCON. Their first encounter came in 1996, when South Africa went on to lift the trophy. They met again in 1998, where Bafana finished runners-up, before drawing in the 2008 tournament in Ghana. Their most recent meeting was in Durban in the 2013 edition, when South Africa was the host, beating Angola at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

“They will want to prove themselves, and that means we will have tough opponents on Monday,” added Broos. “But on the other hand, I believe in my team and what my players have done in the past.

“We have already beaten better opponents than that. We don’t have to be afraid; we need to have confidence in ourselves. But they won’t give us anything — we will have to play at the highest level.

“Winning against them is enough. Whether it’s 2–0 or 3–0, a win would be a good result for us.”