Following their uninspiring and worrisome draw against a 164th ranked Andorra in the wee hours of Friday morning, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will be lining up a solid performance and hope to end the Fifa Series in Algeria on a high note.
South Africa will lock horns with the Algerians at a stadium named after struggle icon Nelson Mandela on Tuesday night. The game will kick-off at 11pm (SA time).
The game against Algeria will be an opportunity for Broos to rotate his squad once more after he handed international debuts to Orlando Pirates duo of Tapelo Xoki and Patrick Maswanganyi, AmaZulu’s Mlondi Mbanjwa, and Sekhukhune United’s Elias Mokwana, who was the liveliest and one of the stand out players against the Andorrans with an equalising goal.
Despite Broos coming out after the game and saying he was satisfied with the performance against Andorra, the overall performance was deemed worrisome by many because a host of new and returning players did not do enough to impress.
Bafana will be going toe to toe against an Algerian side that is enduring a bumpy ride and going through their own fair share of challenges.
The Desert Foxes (Alegria) got eliminated in the group stages of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast recently, which led to the Algerian Football Federation (AFF) parting ways with then coach Djamel Belmadi.
The AFF has since roped in former Switzerland national team coach Vladimir Petkovic, who took charge of his first game against Bolivia on Friday night.
Unlike Broos, who has a core of his Afcon bronze medal-winning squad, Petkovic will be without five of his big-name players.
The likes of Islam Slimani, Sofiane Feghouli, Rais M’Bolhi, Youcef Belaili, and former Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez were not selected for the two-match series.
Having given the likes of Goodman Mosele, Khanyisa Mayo, Ricardo Goss, and Maswanganyi, among others, a chance to play against Andorra, Broos is expected to line up a strong team against the North Africans on Tuesday.
