Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has maintained that it’s possible for them to beat and eliminate one of the tournament favourites Morocco in tonight’s all-important 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) round of 16 clash.
Speaking to the media during the match day minus one press conference at Stade Laurent Pokou, Broos reminded the Moroccan media who were dominant this afternoon, that they had beaten Morocco in the AFCON qualifiers. But the Belgian-born coach also says they will have to be at their best tomorrow to achieve this.
“We beat Morocco already one year ago in Johannesburg. We played a very good game, we played our best and that means that we believe that it’s possible tomorrow to beat Morocco but we have to achieve our very best level. If we can do that then maybe we can create another surprise here in this AFCON by eliminating this big team of Morocco,” Broos said.
The tournament has seen a lot of surprises already, 19-time champions Algeria have already gone home and so are four-time champions Ghana and yesterday’s record seven-time champions, and 2021’s runners-up Egypt.
Broos says it’s not going to be an easy task but it’s achievable.”I think it’s an important game for both teams, now in the tournament, you win or you lose. We are aware of the difficult task that’s waiting for us tomorrow in the game against Morocco.
Morocco is number 1 in Africa – they were fantastic in the World Cup and it’s full of high-class players. “So, it will be very difficult but on the other side, this AFCON is full of surprises. You saw the last weeks, big countries going home, Cameroon was eliminated. So, it’s possible in this AFCON.”
Broos is one of only two coaches in the tournament to have won this competition in 2017 in Gabon, with a youthful Cameroonian team and without star players, they eliminated a very strong Senegalese side, who were also tournament favourites.
(story credit: SABC Sport)
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