Showing his experience at these major tournaments, an old and wily Hugo Broos did not waste time to take pressure off his players by dismissing suggestions Bafana Bafana are one of the favourites to win the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) here in Morocco.
Bafana open their Afcon campaign with a tough clash against Angola at the Marrakesh Stadium on Monday night and there has been talk among football supporters and pundits that South Africa are one of the teams to beat.
South Africa enjoys an enhanced reputation on the continent because they finished third during the previous Afcon in the Ivory Coast but Broos does not want the dangerous favourites’ tag.
“It will be very dangerous to put ourselves as favourites,” he said during his pre-match press conference at the match venue where he declared his team ready for the tournament.
“This is something that is done and said by media or supporters. The only thing I can say is that this Afcon is going to be much tougher than the one in the Ivory Coast.”
In the Ivory Coast, most of the favourite teams were eliminated during the early stages but Broos said that trend is unlikely to continue because they have learnt from their mistakes.
“I don’t think most countries are going to make the same mistakes they did in the Ivory Coast. If you can remember, most big countries like Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco were dumped out of the tournament early.
“This is not going to happen now because they have learnt their lesson from the last Afcon. This means all the big teams will be there after the group stages and it is going to be tough to win this Afcon.
“I will not say to you that South Africa are favourites, for me the favourite team to win the tournament is Morocco because they are a very good team and they are playing at home.
“With regards to the rest of the teams, it is going to be a challenge but we will have to wait and see after the group stages which teams will still be there. Maybe we will change our opinion after that but at the moment, we cannot say Bafana are one of the favourites.”
Looking ahead to the match, Broos said they are well prepared and can’t wait to get going.
“We are prepared and we are happy to start the tournament with our first game. We have a tough opponent tomorrow and it is important to start the first game of the tournament with a win.
“If we can do that, I think it will be a big step towards qualification for the group stages and we will try to win against Angola to put us in a good position for the second game against Egypt.”
Captain Ronwen Ronwen Williams shared the coach’s sentiments that they need to start strong against Angola.
“It has not been the type of preparation that we are used to with European-based players only joining us later, but once we were complete you could see the mood, training was much better.
“In fact, everything was much better. The last two days have been good and you can see excitement from the players now that they are at Afcon. We know how important it is to start the tournament on a good note and we can’t wait to get started,” Williams said.
Angola coach Patrice Beaumelle, who has won this tournament on two occasions with Zambia and Ivory Coast as assistant to fellow Frenchman Herve Renard, disagreed with Broos, saying Bafana are the favourites.
“Bafana is part of the teams that can win the trophy and that puts a bit of pressure on them. For us, we are outsiders because we play with the will to win and without pressure.
“We are just here to start our competition on a good note and our target is not only to play against Bafana, but the other two games against Egypt and Zimbabwe and reach our target of getting out of the group stages.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.