Bafana coach Broos happy with his bunch of strikers

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is brimming with confidence about collecting at least four points in two back-to-back 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Liberia, starting with the first leg at the Orlando Stadium on Friday.  

The Bafana coach described preparations as “serene” on Thursday, adding that all of the 23 members he selected for the two games were ready and available.

“I can tell you that the camp is going very well, preparing very hard for the games tomorrow [Friday] and next week on Tuesday [in Monrovia].

“That makes me happy and very confident. I have to say we’re conscious that we have two difficult games to play but I feel, little by little, that the team is believing in themselves and in positive results.”

Both teams are going to Friday’s match having lost their opening ties against Morocco, the 2022 World Cup semifinalists who have already qualified for the finals in Ivory Coast as there are only three teams in Group K.

“For me the home game is maybe more important than the second in that we need to win. We need absolutely to win here. If we can go to Monrovia with victory it’s already three points but what’s also very important is goal difference. 

“Even if we draw in Monrovia but we have four points and we’ve won here with 2-0 for an example, then the goal difference is plus one for us and minus four for them. [Bafana lost 2-1 to Morocco while Liberia lost 2-0 to the same side]. 

“That will make it extra difficult for them to qualify even if they were to win against Morocco. So, I think that’s something we have to keep in mind that we don’t have to take stupid risks tomorrow but we should go for the second or maybe third goal.

“We saw what can happen during the World Cup qualifiers. If we had scored more goals against Zimbabwe we would have played the [final] play-offs. 

“Now that stupid goal [a dubious penalty awarded] in Ghana killed us. We must score as many goals as possible. It will not be easy.”

Broos is hoping for goals from the likes of Lyle Foster, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Percy Tau, Cassius Mailula and Zakhele Lepasa. He has a wide choice in attack and has said all week that the look of the squad is a lot better than when he first coached the team in 2021.

“I think in the players that we have now we have goal scorers,” said Broos. “They cannot all play but it’s something extra if those who play can’t score. You still have something extra on the bench. If things don’t go well from the first moment we can always change. This is something we didn’t have before.

“We were looking for strikers and we didn’t find them. But as you see now Bongokuhle came back from America, there’s Mailula, you see Lepasa and Foster now in England.”

“You have possibilities and opportunities now. For me as a coach it’s very good and when I look at the bench I see something I didn’t have before.

“There were not many players who could score goals. I said in the beginning we don’t have strikers. But little by little they’re there now and they’re young. That’s very important too. These guys are in the beginning of their careers and it’s a very good thing for Bafana in general.”