'Seek inspiration from Boks' - Broos urges Bafana

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos sees no reason why his team can’t hold their own against one of the continent’s powerhouses, Ivory Coast, in a friendly in Abidjan on Tuesday (9pm SA time).

In fact, Broos wants his troops to learn a thing or two from Boks, who put on a gutsy display to beat hosts France 29-28 in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals in Paris on Sunday night.

Bafana head into this high-profile friendly against the Elephants somewhat low in confidence after a lacklustre display that saw them play a scoreless draw at home to Eswatini on Friday.

“I think it’s quite easy to turn this around because in the past they’ve shown that they can do it. The quality is there and it’s not a question of quality. I think it [when they drew against Eswatini] was more of a question of mentality and maybe underestimating the opponent,” Broos told Safa media department yesterday.

“We showed against Morocco in Joburg [when they won 2-1] a few months ago [in June] that we can do it, so I am still confident. I am rather confident that tomorrow [tonight] it’ll be a totally different story because they [his players] know they play against Ivory Coast.

“When you see yesterday evening’s game, the other team of SA [Boks]... passion and the way they are playing their game, I think we have a lot to learn from them.”

Broos indicated his troops have understood that they were below-par against Sihlangu Semnikati, who are ranked 144th by Fifa. The Bafana coach also warned his players against being complacent against minnows and wanting to perform only against big boys.

“I think they [the players] are conscious about that [that Friday’s goalless draw against Eswatini was a poor game]. We spoke and I am sure that tomorrow [tonight] we will be ready again to make a good performance. 

“I don’t agree with that [Bafana should underestimate less-fancied sides] because they are professionals and they should not be selective as to when to perform at the highest level.”