Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is anticipating a tough battle against Uganda Cranes on Friday in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations fixture to be staged at the Orlando Stadium.
The South Africans want to start the game on a high note to stand a chance of qualifying from Group K which also houses South Sudan and Congo.
The Belgian has lauded the East Africans for their physique and willingness to work harder for their team, but he exuded confidence Bafana Bafana will match them.
Uganda want to be tough but Broos promises to counter them
“It's a team that plays with dedication, they are runners. In all the games I've seen, it's a difficult team to play against. They want to play and they want to be tough,” the 72-year-old said in a pre-match interview.
“We have to keep ourselves on a certain line. On the other side, I saw where we have to manage them in defence, but certainly also when we have the ball. If we can do that, we can win the game. Because, as I said, if we can play good football. like we've played in recent games. and win, [then] okay, I am happy. But I will be [more] happy to show the right mentality [because] if we don't have the right mentality, it will be very difficult.
“When I started coaching Bafana, we had some problems in some games because we didn’t have the height in our team; we didn’t have the power. We looked for it, and we found it. Grant [Johnson], our goalkeeper coach, was saying the other day: ‘Hey, we have a big team now’. It’s true we have some big guys, and you need that.
“It’s not enough that you can play football when you don’t have the physical qualities. We have guys like [Sphephelo] Sithole, [Rushwin] Dortley, and [Siyabonga] Ngezana. We’re there, where we need to be, and we need them tomorrow in that game against Uganda because they have several guys with that height.”
Who will replace Ronwen Williams?
South Africa will have to do without the services of captain Ronwen Williams who is recovering from a shoulder injury.
Veli Mothwa of AmaZulu, SuperSport United's Ricardo Goss, and Sipho Chaine from Orlando Pirates have been considered. But who will start?
“You're coming to the game [on Friday]? You’ll see [who will start]. The only thing I can do is give them confidence. I believe in those guys who are there, whoever it will be, I will be confident in him,” Broos stated.
“I know it’s not easy to replace a guy like Ronwen, but okay, Ronwen is not here and we know all the good things he’s done for this team. We have to put our confidence in the goalkeeper who will play. I’m not afraid of that.”