We won't be dominated for 90 minutes: Bafana coach Hugo Broos aims to take fight to Morocco

The odds are stacked against South Africa in their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Morocco, but Bafana Bafana have vowed to take the fight to their opponents when they meet at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium on Saturday (5pm).

The teams, who have qualified for the Afcon in Ivory Coast next year, will use the battle as part of preparations for the continental showpiece.

In the first qualifying game, Morocco defeated Bafana 2-1 in Rabat and coach Hugo Broos said his team played in patches, hence losing the match a year ago.

But Broos said his team have improved since then, even though they are not at the level of Morocco, who were semi-finalists at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.   

“We have to play football and we have to sometimes hurt this Morocco team a little bit,” Broos said on Friday.

“They should be surprised that this is something else compared to one year ago.

“We will not be dominated for 90 minutes so Percy (Tau) only sees the middle centre line and not the other side of the field. That's not what we want.

“We want to play football, we want to play with Morocco and have a good game, and we will see where we end.”

Broos said the game will be a good test for South Africa as they plan for the Afcon.

“We are playing against a very strong opponent. I think at the moment Morocco are the best team in Africa,” he said.

“They showed that eight months ago by ending fourth in the World Cup, so that means they have a lot of quality.

“If you can see how (that) team is composed, they have players who are playing in big teams in Europe and we know what we can expect tomorrow.

“But on the other hand, I’m very happy with what I saw at training from my team. I think my team is ready to play a good game tomorrow.

“It’s a good test for us, but also to show the progression we made compared to the game we played one year ago in Morocco.”