AFCON 2025: Matthew Booth explains what worries him about Bafana Bafana

While South Africans are optimistic over Bafana Bafana’s prospects of winning the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, former defender Matthew Booth is a worried man.

South Africa head to the 2025 edition as one of the teams to beat following their run to third place in 2023 and the fact that they have remained unbeaten across all competitions since that tournament.

That has added pressure on coach Hugo Broos and his team, who went to the 2023 edition as one of the participating teams as few gave them a chance of making it past the knockout rounds.

Matthew Booth cautions Bafana

Booth is concerned that South Africa might crack under the weight of expectations as the power of balance has shifted this time when focus will be on them unlike before.

The former Mamelodi Sundowns has warned Bafana Bafana against expecting an easy run, terming their group stage opponents Angola and Egypt tough and tricky.

“I feel they [Angola] are going to be a tough opponent,” Booth said on the SmashSports podcast. “Also, the fact that we have Egypt in the second game is not a perfect scenario. It means we have to travel from Marrakech to Agadir. So this Angola game is going to be so vital for us to win.”

South Africa begin their campaign against Angola on Monday with hopes of beginning with a flourish after a losing start in 2023 but Booth has issued a word of caution.

Why is ex-defender concerned?

“They have a strong core of players who play in Serie A. Angola are not going to be pushovers; they are an attacking unit that is quite formidable. We will face a team that is going to be tough to beat,” he added.

The former Mamelodi Sundowns defender also doubts whether Broos’ team can handle the weight of expatiations.

“My concern now is we’re going into this tournament with a target on our back. The fact that we came third in the previous tournament two years ago in Ivory Coast. Now we are not going as underdogs. People know about us now,” he said.

Broos has already set a target of at least a semi-final for his team although there is belief in camp that they can go all the way.