Bafana must make it count in finals

Temperamental Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos must leave no stone unturned to ensure his team hit the ground running at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in January next year. The soccer world’s focus will be on the bustling West African country of Ivory Coast for two weeks when Africa’s top teams battle for the crown of continental champions.

For too long Bafana Bafana have been underperformers on the international stage and Broos has eight months to fine-tune his often misfiring side.

Defending champions Senegal will face fierce competition from fellow African powers Egypt, Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, host nation Ivory Coast and hopefully a rejuvenated SA side.

Senegal will be bidding to become the first back-to-back champions since Egypt won three straight titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Bafana made their long-suffering supporters sweat before they clinched qualification thanks to a 2-1 victory over Liberia at SKD Stadium in Monrovia last month.

As is normally the case with Bafana, there was high drama leading up to the return clash against Liberia.

Following a lacklustre 2-2 draw at Orlando Stadium in the first game, where Bafana squandered a 2-0 lead, SA managed to secure a vital away win in front of a hostile crowd in Monrovia.

Bafana will host a strong Morocco side on June 12 in a match that will be without pressure because they have already qualified.

Broos says this will be a good opportunity for him to prepare Bafana so they are firing on all cylinders when they play their opening game at Afcon in January.

He was lost for words in Monrovia after Bafana ’ s key tournament qualifying victory.

Broos had gone into the game under huge pressure after the stalemate at Orlando Stadium.

Unfortunately, he let himself and the nation down when he stormed off the field before the end of play after Liberia snatched a late draw in SA.

He then sent assistant coach Helman Mkhalele to the post-match press conference to aggravate an already tense situation. To his credit, Broos did apologise later and made a belated appearance at the media conference.

If Bafana are to succeed at the finals, Broos must keep cool when the pressure is on.