Safa bosses are involved in last-minute negotiations to find Bafana Bafana a friendly international opponent to replace Zimbabwe, who were banned by
Fifa and will not participate in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.
South Africa were due to face Zimbabwe on June 13, four days after their opening qualifier against Morocco in Rabat.
They are finalising talks to clinch a tough encounter against 2019 Afcon champions Algeria. They are also speaking to neighbours Namibia to give Bafana a run on that Fifa date, in case they do not agree terms with the Desert Warriors of Algeria.
After playing Morocco away, they will play back-to-back matches against Liberia in September.
Qualification for next year’s Afcon has been made a little easier by Zimbabwe’s ban. A decent result against powerhouse Morocco and six points from Liberia could be enough to book Bafana their ticket to Ivory Coast next year.
Bafana head coach Hugo Broos knows that he will be facing the axe should the team not qualify for next year’s tournament. Bafana did not qualify for the 2020 edition in Cameroon after a slip in the last match of the qualifiers against Sudan.
Coach Molefi Ntseki was dismissed after the calamity.
Under Broos, Bafana had a decent campaign in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers but they fell at the last hurdle against Ghana under controversial circumstances.
“I want to be in Ivory Coast, we have to be there,” Broos said when he announced his squad.
“Now it is a little bit easier, if I can use that word. Then we will see how good we are at the tournament next year. Passing the group stages is also normal as well.
“But I would love to win it. I won it with Cameroon but it is a little bit too early. Let’s create bigger goals and say maybe let’s go for it in 2025 in Guinea. This is my dream, this is something I had when I was still a player in Belgium, I like to win.
“When I came here in June, I said let us see how far we can go in the World Cup qualifiers. We all saw how good the team performed and we were knocked out in the last match. It was a young team and they were brave and unlucky to lose in that manner in Ghana. And for the Afcon I said to qualify is not an option – we must qualify. Otherwise, the federation can decide. The people will not be happy, it will be very disappointing.”
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