WeeklySA_AdminQUARTER-FINALS: BAFANA NEED TO BELIEVE THEY CAN SWALLOW THE BLUE SHARKS AND SHOOT DOWN THE SUPER EAGLES TO REACH THE AFCON 2023 FINAL
By Ali Mphaki
The TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations is unforgiving – powerhouses like Ghana, Egypt,Morocco, among 18 others who were unceremoniously bundled out of the tournament can attest.
With almost 48 of the penciled 52 matches of the month-long African football showpiece taking place in Cote d’Ivoire already done and dusted, indeed lessons are learnt and reports are filed.
In typical tournament fashion some start well – peak up early – others grow in the tournament.
With our boys to face Cape Verde in the quarter-finals on Saturday 10pm, having opened their campaign with a 2-0 defeat by Mali but then secured qualification from a group that saw 2004 champions Tunisia knocked out, “the most important thing is that you can grow in a tournament, when you become better and better,” said Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos.
He added: “Confidence is so big that we dream now of the final”, after their last-16 two-nil victory against 2023 Africa Cup of Nations favourites Morocco.
Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena scored the goals in a 2-0 win over the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists on Tuesday as the tournament in Ivory Coast delivered its latest upset.
Belgian coach Broos has experience of lifting the Afcon trophy himself, with the 71-year-old guiding Cameroon to the title in 2017.
South Africa, who had missed out on the 2021 finals, beat neighbours Namibia 4-0 in their second group-stage match before a goalless draw with Tunisia saw them progress at the expense of the North Africans.
Morocco topped their group and were widely expected to sweep aside Bafana Bafana, given their historic run to the last four at the World Cup finals and their status as Africa’s top-ranked side.
The Atlas Lions are 13th in the world rankings – 53 places above their last-16 opponents.
Tension will be in the air when Bafana Bafana face Cape Verde and Broos is well aware that both teams will be brimming with confidence after making it this far in the tournament, but he is also very wary of what the South African senior men’s team rivals can offer when the stakes are so high.
“Cape Verde, we do not underestimate them, we have seen how well they play. They have discipline, they are very well organized, so we know what we are up against. They cannot be underestimated, even if we come off of a win against Africa’s best,” he said.
“In over a month since the team has been in camp, Bafana Bafana have been boosted with a clean bill of health. Mothobi Mvala was on high alert shortly before departure when he was a doubt to play.
Khuliso Mudau’s was also a doubt, but now looks good for the game,” Brooa added as quoted in the Safa website.
The three most successful teams in the history of the competition, Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana, with 16 titles between them, had all departed before South Africa’s surprise victory.
Along with the exit of Senegal on penalties on Monday, all five of Africa’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers have been knocked out of the tournament.
It has been the year of the underdog at this Afcon and the growth of the game on the continent is there to see through the nations that are achieving success – along with the number of African-based players balancing out the usual swath of European-based stars.
“Local players can be good also when they are ready to play a level higher,” said Broos, whose squad is overwhelmingly made up of players from South Africa’s domestic league.
Local may just prove to be lekker and history beckons for Bafana Bafana.
