Broos sends out Bafana warning ahead of Afcon finals

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has warned his players that the experience of competing in an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals is not for the faint-hearted.

Broos won the competition in 2017 with Cameroon, and the Belgian admitted he was surprised back then, coming from Europe, by the intensity of the matches played in Gabon.

“The players have to be aware this is a tough tournament,” said Broos this week.

“Even the guys from Sundowns (Broos has 10 Masandawana players in his final Afcon squad), that play in the Champions League, you can’t compare that to the games at an Afcon.

“You have the best players (at an Afcon finals). When you play in the Champions League it is always (only) against African players playing in local competitions.

“Against Mali (Bafana’s opening Group E match on Tuesday) we will be playing (against) guys from Europe.

“Secondly, all the teams at the Afcon are 500 percent motivated,” added Broos, recalling how tough it was for his Cameroon side in 2017 in their opening two matches against Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau.

“It is like they play for their lives in every game, these are … intense games. It was a big surprise when we (Cameroon) played our first games (in 2017) against Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was so intense. That is the experience that I can give my players, so that they know on Tuesday what is coming.”

Sixy Mali

While Bafana Bafana played out a goalless draw with Lesotho on Wednesday in their final Afcon warm-up match, Mali wrapped up their preparations with a 6-2 hammering of Guinea-Bissau.

“When I see the results of these (pre-Afcon) friendly games, it is not really something to worry about,” said Broos.

“You have to see in which circumstances a team came into the game. Maybe the (Guinea-Bissau) coach had trained his players very hard, and they were tired, maybe it was different for Mali. I don’t know the details, for me I don’t give importance to such games.”

Bafana arrived in Korhogo, Ivory Coast on Thursday, the northern city in which they will play all three of their Group E matches. Mamelodi Sundowns Mothobi Mvala travelled with the squad, with doctors confident he can recover from a groin injury picked up during Bafana’s pre-departure training camp.