Will the real Bafana Bafana please stand up.
Coach Hugo Broos, who admitted his team had been soft at moments during the group stages of this Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco, yesterday insisted his charges were ready to turn it on for the last-16 encounter against Cameroon tonight (9pm SA time).
South Africa went to the tournament on the back of convincing performances against Lesotho, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Rwanda to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.
There was also a good friendly win over Zambia, but that dynamism and devastating form has been missing in Morocco.
There will be no second chances against Cameroon at the El Barid Stadium in Rabat.
In their three group matches, Bafana beat Angola and Zimbabwe and lost to Egypt. But the Indomitable Lions present a different profile with their own dynamics.
Improved performance
Broos admitted Bafana were not at their best during the group stages, but he expects an improved performance tonight. “If you saw our performances during the group stages, a little bit more was expected. We have spoken about those issues, and what I saw at training over the last week was totally different.
“Because of the progression this team has made, where we have been winning matches, maybe players and I thought we would win the next one. Because of that, maybe we were not fully focused. If you are not focused, you don’t play at the level that you are capable of.
I have to win this game and that’s all that counts on Sunday. No sentiments for Cameroon. I’m the coach of South Africa and all I want is to win this game for South Africa
— Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach
“I am confident going into this match because of what I saw this week at training. On Sunday you are going to see a different Bafana from the one you saw during the group stages.”
Cameroon, who beat Gabon and Mozambique and drew with Ivory Coast, are physically imposing, and it remains to be seen if Bafana are going to take them on or stick to their ball-playing philosophy.
If Broos wants to get around Cameroon by playing football and avoid the physical confrontation, then a player like Sipho Mbule comes to mind as one of the playmakers in the team.
There are those who are calling for the name of exciting attacker Relebohile Mofokeng, who has only played 21 minutes in the tournament and could play as a No 10.
Difficult choices
Those are the difficult choices facing Broos and his coaching staff and analysts because it is possible that South Africa could nullify Cameroon’s power by playing smart football where they focus on possession.
In the loss against Egypt, Broos started with Thalente Mbatha and changed things around when the Pharaohs went a man down, with Mbule introduced to keep the ball and break the lines, but it didn’t work.
Broos is up against a team he led to Afcon success in Gabon in 2017. But speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said his loyalty lay with South Africa. “No mercy tomorrow, you can be sure of that,” he said with a stern face.
“I have to win this game and that’s all that counts on Sunday. No sentiments for Cameroon. I am the coach of South Africa and all I want is to win this game for South Africa.”
Broos went on to say the focus should not be on him but on the match.
“This is a game between South Africa and Cameroon and not between Hugo Broos and Cameroon; let’s make that clear. Secondly, there have been a lot of changes in the Cameroon team between 2017 and now.”
Cameroon upheaval
Cameroon came to Morocco amid upheaval after changing coaches less than two weeks before the tournament started. “When you make changes so close to the tournament, you always ask how it is going to end.
“Cameroon has a good and young team with hunger to play and win games. You can compare it with us eight years ago when we went to Gabon because at that time, nobody expected anything from us, but we won the tournament. At that time, I also had a young team that was hungry to put in good performances.”
Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena said they were ready.
“As a team, we are excited for the match, and the team is full of leaders able to handle the situation. Nkosinathi Sibisi is the captain of Orlando Pirates, Ronwen Williams is the captain of Mamelodi Sundowns, and I’m his vice-captain,” he said.
“There’s a strong leadership group in the team, and we just have to make sure we’re prepared for these games. We spoke with the coach after the Zimbabwe match, and we decided to get back to basics to fix our mistakes, and right now, we’re ready for the challenge.
“I think we lost the right game against Egypt, and we can’t suffer more defeats because if we do, we’re going home. We’re not planning to go home any time soon because we have packed enough clothes.”
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