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.”
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.”
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