France manager Didier Deschamps has done his homework on Bafana Bafana, he said, stating that he has identified the players he views as potential threats when the two sides meet in a highly anticipated friendly international at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Tuesday night.
Deschamps intends to keep a very close eye on Kaizer Chiefs’ Keagan Dolly, Baroka FC’s Evidence Makgopa, and Orlando Pirates’ Bandile Shandu when the world champions host the South Africans in a match that is expected to be played before a sold-out crowd at the 50 000-seater stadium in Lille.
Royal AM’s Victor Letsoalo came on as a second-half substitute in Bafana’s friendly international against Guinea at Guldensporen Stadion in Kortrijk in Belgium last Friday, and made a lasting impression on the Les Bleus boss.
“I know the offensive players [in the Bafana Bafana team] better, the forwards,” Deschamps told Safa’s official website Safa.net. “Dolly is an interesting player. The two forwards, Letsoalo and the other one is Makgopa.”
The French have some of the most high-profile names in world football but Deschamps said they are taking nothing for granted ahead of Tuesday’s match. He even had spies on the stands when Bafana played Guinea last Friday in a match that ended in a goalless draw.
Deschamps admitted that he had people in the stands taking notes on his behalf and knows what to expect from the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations champions.
He said: “Yes, of course, we had people from our team watching your game [against Guinea]. But I do not think it will be the same players who will face France.
“Even though this is a friendly game, we are preparing for the 2022 World Cup. This gives us the opportunity to play against an African team, and this is not always the case for us. For an example, the last time [we played against South Africa] was in 2010 at the World Cup.
“In the next World Cup, we may play against African nations and those teams might have the same qualities, the same style of play that South Africa has.”
He said while Bafana are in the rebuilding stages, he expects coach Hugo Broos to send out a different line-up when the two teams square off.
“South Africa has a new generation of players. To me it explains why South Africa did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations [earlier this year] and the World Cup. There are a lot of local-based players who do not have a lot of international experience.
“But obviously we have watched a lot of South Africa games, several of their last games, and I also watched their last game against Guinea. But I do not think it will be the same players because there were a lot of young players on the pitch against Guinea.”
Deschamps said Kylian Mbappé and Paul Pogba might get an opportunity to play, even though both had injury concerns in the build-up to tonight’s game.
Mbappé missed France’s win over Ivory Coast a few days ago due to an infection, while Pogba suffered a knock during the Ivory Coast outing.
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