Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has given an account of how he received an invitation to play Morocco in a friendly match next month but turned it down.
South Africa are set to take on Tanzania and Mozambique in friendly matches in June but Morocco would have been one of their next opponents had they accepted the invitation.
However, Broos has explained that he immediately turned down a request from the North Africans to face them in a friendly match because of fear of an embarrassing defeat, akin to their 5-0 thrashing inflicted on them by France in 2022, because he does not have his best players available next month.
Why did Bafana coach reject Atlas Lions?
“Playing against some teams, you have to do it with your best team,” Broos said on SABC after unveiling his final squad for the two friendly matches next month.
“Like now, all the Sundowns players are not there, we have a lot of young players in. We had a call from Morocco to play against Morocco.
“Immediately, I said no because I don’t want to have a game like France. Nobody will understand if you play against Morocco and have a big defeat. Everybody [will be] angry.”
Broos says the impact such a big defeat would have on him and his squad was not something he was willing to risk, hence the decision to play lesser opponents.
Broos has good record against Morocco
“I know why and I understand it but people don’t understand it. So, you need to choose a good opponent, a strong opponent but not the strongest of Africa then you put yourself in trouble,” he added.
While he is afraid of playing Morocco, Broos’ record against the Atlas Lions is not so bad as he has faced them three times during his tenure and won twice while suffering one defeat.
Broos’ first encounter with Morocco was in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June 2022 when Bafana Bafana lost 2-1 away but won by the same scoreline in South Africa a few days later.
South Africa then made a statement at the AFCON 2023 when they beat Morocco 2-0 in the Round of 16 to eliminate them when the North Africans had been seen as favourites to win the tournament after their historic run to the 2022 World Cup semi-final.
