We want to do something special: Percy Tau

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Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says his players are ready to open their account in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament currently under way in Ivory Coast. This will be the second AFCON tournament for the 71-year-old Belgian coach.

Broos says all the players understand the importance of starting their Africa Cup of Nations on a winning note. South Africa will face the number eight-ranked Mali in their opening game on Tuesday evening.

Bafana Bafana are hoping to register their first-ever win against Mali in an official match. South Africa’s only win was in an international friendly in Port Elizabeth in 2019. The West Africans have won two Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals against Bafana Bafana.

First, it was during the 2002 tournament they hosted and also managed to do the same in the AFCON tournament played in South Africa in 2013. This will be Mali’s 13th AFCON and they have never lost their opening match of the tournament.

“I think everybody is happy that we are one day before the game you know there is always preparation but you looking forward to play. So we are aware that we have a tough opponent tomorrow with Mali on the other side we believe in our chances and I hope that we can achieve our best level so that we can win the game. Because it’s very important for a tournament like this that you can start with a victory,” says Broos.

The West Africans are ranked 8th on the continent, and South Africa are ranked 12th. This will be Bafana Bafana’s 11th AFCON, their first since 2019. But South Africa have not scored more than one goal in their last nine matches at the AFCON.

During qualification, Mali finished top of their group with 15 points, and only Algeria had more points than them. Bafana vice-captain Percy Tau says the players have now quickly adapted to the local conditions at their base in Korhogo.

“I think we have handled that pretty well because most of the squad is now used to travelling and playing outside the country, so it’s those that are in South Africa, they don’t know what we are going through. I think we’ve handled everything quite well and we are looking forward to the games. The pitch is great, we saw it today in the morning. We are playing against a difficult side, our group is difficult, we still have Namibia and Tunisia also. So, we are looking forward to all those matches but we do believe in ourselves, we are not overconfident, we are grounded but that does not take away that we believe we can do something special. We want to do something special that’s the bottom line,”

Also on Tuesday, Tunisia will face Namibia in the opening match of Group E before Bafana Bafana’s much-anticipated match against Mali later in the evening.

South Africa’s second group match will be against neighbours Namibia on Sunday before they conclude their opening group campaign against Tunisia next Wednesday.