SA national team coach Hugo Broos is hopeful Bafana Bafana will be motivated enough and be spurred on by the fact that they face world champions France in one of their friendly matches.
Broos and his charges are preparing for two key clashes as they face Guinea in Kortrijk, Belgium on Friday night, March 25. The squad will then travel to France for a meeting with reigning World Cup champions Les Bleus in Lille on Tuesday night, March 29.
The friendlies are a dress rehearsal as Bafana begin preparations for the next edition of Africa Cup of Nations qualification round of matches for the finals of the tournament in Cote Ivoire in 2023.
“The players will be motivated against France,” the Belgian mentor told the media from their Belgium camp, where he is expecting members of his family to come and support Bafana.
“We don’t have the chance every day to play against the World Champions. I’ve heard that it will be a full stadium. There will be a lot of interest and the players from South Africa can aim to show something.
“It is sentimental that the game against Guinea will be in Belgium. A part of the Broos family will attend, but they were also more interested in seeing the game against France than against Guinea. I do hope to spend some time with them after the game.”
Broos also explained his thinking behind including more senior players, some over the age of 30 in his current squad, while he went for the young and untested players for the failed Qatar World Cup qualifications.
“I selected only young players when I arrived. I wanted to see what we have in young players as they are the future. After the World Cup qualifiers, we saw there were flaws in the younger players, such as a lack of strength and power.
“We then started to scout the older players and players with power, such as Goodman Mosele. The door is not closed to older players, [32-year-old Thabang] Monare is the oldest in our team and has had good performances in the Confederation Cup for Orlando Pirates.
Broos added: “Lyle Lakay is also 30 and has been good for Sundowns in the Champions League. The upcoming two games will be interesting, I want to see if the players will improve the quality of the team.”
