Bafana coach Broos wary of Algeria on the rebound

Hugo Broos is wary of an Algeria on the rebound from their disappointing Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) when they host Bafana Bafana at Stade Nelson Mandela on Tuesday night.

The Fennec Foxes bombed out in the first round at Afcon in Ivory Coast, which prompted highly rated coach Djamel Belmadi, who steered Algeria to the 2019 title, to step down.

The 60-year-old, Bosnian-born Swiss Vladimir Petković, the new coach of Algeria, began his tenure with a 3-2 win against 86th-rankied Bolivia on Friday in the Fifa Series matches being played in the North African country.

Bafana, in contrast, seemed to be recovering from an Afcon hangover, having racked up a best finish in 24 years of third place in Ivory Coast, as they drew 1-1 against 164th-ranked Andorra in Annaba on Thursday.

There were other factors in the result. Broos’ team missed chances and were a largely experimental combination who did not know each other well as he used the game against the minnows to give a chance to fresh faces.

The coach also mostly resisted playing the seven-player Mamelodi Sundowns contingent who formed the core of his Afcon starting line-up. They arrived late due to a Nedbank Cup tie against Maritzburg United last Sunday.

The coach said he will field his strongest line-up against 43rd-ranked Algeria.

“It will certainly be a difficult game because we all know Algeria have a lot of quality,” Broos said. “It was a disillusion and disappointment for all Algerians to see this team go out in the group stages at Afcon.

“I saw their game against Bolivia on Friday and you see the motivation of the players is already different because they have a new coach. They want to show him they deserve to be in that team and to play.

“Only for that the motivation will be very big. They play at home. The stadium was nearly full [against Bolivia]. The supporters will be there [against Bafana].

“So for us it will be a good test after Afcon. We will try to get a good result but for me the performance is more important than the result.

With the injuries to Lebo Mothiba and Afcon striker Evidence Makgopa and uncertainty over the national team status of Lyle Foster, Broos said he will give Stellenbosch FC’s 28-year-old Iqraam Rayners a chance to impress against Algeria.

“It will be more important [to get the results] in two months when we play against Nigeria and Zimbabwe. For those games there is no excuse and we have to get a good result.”

Bafana will meet Nigeria away and Zimbabwe at home in 2026 World Cup group C qualifiers in June.

• The SA Football Association (Safa) is adamant Broos is going nowhere despite a report in the Tunisian media on Monday that the Belgian is to leave SA and join that country’s national team.

A report on the website of Tunisia’s Mosaïque FM said Broos was exploring how to get out of his contract with Safa and join Tunisia “directly”.

Broos was asked in a digital press conference with SA journalists on Monday about links to jobs with other teams.

“There is nothing,” the 71-year-old said then. “I said already after Afcon that if you do well with a team, automatically there is interest in you as a coach.”