Bafana’s Broos on the 3rd place play-off – this game must not be played

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has said he would rather the 3^rd/4^th place play-off was scrapped from the Africa Cup of Nations.

South Africa finish off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with exactly that fixture against DR Congo at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium on Saturday. Broos says the game could well be decided by which team has dusted themselves off the best from the disappointment of going out in the semifinals on Wednesday.

“It depends a bit which team will be better recovered,” said Broos.

“Also for the DRC it has been a disappointing week. If you ask my advice, this game must not be played.

“The most important thing in a tournament like this is to finish number one. Number two or number four, it is exactly the same, it is only for statistics.”

Changes afoot?

Broos added that he may make make several changes for the game against DR Congo, who Bafana beat 1-0 in a friendly as recently as last September at Orlando Stadium.

Defender Grant Kekana is suspended after his red card against Nigeria, while Bafana were assessing the fitness of “three or four players,” according to Broos, before deciding on their starting XI.

Bafana are likely to be exhausted from two successive games that went to extra time penalties, and especially given the result on Wednesday, when Nigeria denied them a place in the final.

“I hope my players will be mentally ready to go at kick off, like they have been in the previous six games. The DRC were also in the semifinals and that means they are a good team.”