Broos warns Bafana to stay on their toes for Tunisia showdown

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has warned his team that they “can still lose everything,” when they play Tunisia in their final Group E Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly in Korhogo on Wednesday.

South Africa will go through to the last 16 with a point against the Carthage Eagles, and even if they lose, they are likely to progress as long as Mali beat Namibia in the other Group E match. If Bafana lose and Namibia win or draw, however, South Africa will be out of the competition.

“It will be a very big mnistake to feel comfortable,” said Broos at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

“We have a difficult game to play and we can still lose everything. If we lose and Namibia plays a draw against Mali, we are out, so things can change. I told the players yesterday that this is a very odd AFCON, you can see this from the results.

“We need to look after ourselves and put in a good performance. If we can do that we will get a good result and move to the next round.”

Will the ‘real’ Tunisia please stand up

There have been an abundance of surprises at this tournament so far, with the major shock in Group E coming when Namibia beat Tunisia in their opening match.

Broos, however, expects a fired up Tunisia tomorrow – the North Africans have to win if they are to guarantee progress to the last 16.

“I know that Tunisia is a very good team. I saw the first game they played against Namibia. That was not the real Tunisia I know, I think they underestimated their opponent. I saw a strong Tunisia against Mali, they played a good game.

“They know what they have to do, they have to win … we will be prepared for that.”