Bafana Bafana head into this game on the back of a 5-0 drubbing to world champions, France, in a friendly game that felt like a practice game for the French. To be quite honest, not much was expected from Bafana in this game except showing a fighting spirit while keeping football basics against a star-studded European team.
While Morocco is an African team, most of their squad is based in Europe, featuring players such as Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla), Romain Saiss (Wolves), and Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern).
In the first few months after taking over the Bafana team, Hugo Broos opted for players based in South Africa, mainly due to different lockdown regulations that were still in effect in different countries, which made it tricky to always get players outside the country. This was a welcomed change with DStv Premiership players getting much-needed international experience which has helped the team improve in recent months.
There was genuine optimism about Bafana qualifying for the Qatar World Cup, falling short mainly because of officiating mistakes that went against them. There’s a good feeling about the Broos-led Bafana team because of what they’ve been able to achieve in the field of play, and there’s some optimism about the team qualifying for AFCON 2023.
Hugo’s plans have been slightly negatively affected by Terrence Mashego’s knee injury, Broos’ preferred left wing-back. He still has really good options in that position though, with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lyle Lakay ready to slot in.
The rest of the back four will be a new look from what we have gotten used to with Siyanda Xulu and Nkosinathi Sibisi missing out.
In midfield, Broos has interestingly opted for four players, meaning he knows exactly what he wants in that area of the field. South Africans have been yearning to see more of Sphelele ‘Yaya’ Sithole, while Goodman Mosele and Phathutshedzo Nange both showed great form towards the end of last season in the DStv Premiership.
Still, Bafana’s biggest area of concern over the years has been hitting the back of the net. Maybe this is why Broos has opted to call up seven forwards that include Percy Tau, Fagrie Lakay, Thembinkosi Lorch and Lyle Forster. Without a recognized creative midfielder, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tau slotting in on the number 10 role behind the main striker seeing as he struggles a bit when attacking from the flank these days.
The type of players Broos has called up suggests he wants to match Morocco’s playing style and go for it, but he will settle for a draw away from home.
