We have no fear: Bafana’s Broos is confident ahead of qualifier against Nigeria
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says they have no reason to fear Nigeria ahead of tonight’s 9pm World Cup qualifier at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.
Ahead of last night’s match between Benin and Rwanda, South Africa were second on the log in Group C, after a 2-1 win over Benin and a 2-0 defeat to log leaders Rwanda.
Their Uyo hosts were third after 1-1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Nigeria, though, are powerhouses in African football and knocked South Africa out of the African Cup of Nations in the semifinals, before losing to hosts Ivory Coast in the decider.
And even without star man Victor Osimhen, Broos knows the Super Eagles will be tough to beat.
On the other side of the pitch, South Africa captain Ronwen Williams is one of four players in their camp that have battled niggles this week - the others are Teboho Mokoena, Aubrey Modiba and Bathusi Aubaas.
And with the team’s travelling plans heeltemal omgekrap on Wednesday which saw them sleep in Port Harcourt because the airport in Uyo was closed by the time they got to Nigeria after a delayed flight, Bafana are already fighting the odds.
But Broos says: “Everybody knows that every one of us wants to qualify for the World Cup.
Bafana fully focused on Super Eagles showdown
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) June 7, 2024
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“We have two tough games coming up - Nigeria are Afcon finalists and their players are playing in the best competitions in Europe.
“At the other end, you saw what we can do against them - if we had a little more luck we would have been in the final. I think we were the best team in the semis, so we have no reason to be afraid.
“[Tuesday’s opponent] Zimbabwe are a different team after Afcon. But if you see our performances of the last six months - at Afcon and [in the friendly against] Algeria - we have to be confident and we have to believe in our chances.”
MD-1 training done and dusted! All eyes on the game tomorrow! #BafanaPride #WCQualifiers pic.twitter.com/mgUbWoHXZA
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) June 6, 2024
“We need at least four points of six which means we stay in the race for qualifying and that’s our goal for the next two games.”
Zimbabwe and Lesotho lock horns in the group’s other game at 3pm today.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za