Leone Stars worthy opponents, says Broos

SOUTH Africa coach Hugo Broos is confident Sierra Leone will give them a run for their money given that they are “almost identical” to Liberia.

Bafana Bafana were scheduled to meet Liberia in the third and fourth matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers in the ongoing international break. But those matches were postponed, with CAF deciding to give the World Cup-bound teams some time to prepare ahead of the main event from November.

As a result, Bafana have since decided to organise two friendlies against the 113th ranked Sierra Leone and 146th placed Botswana for today and Tuesday, respectively.

The teams’ low rankings have raised eyebrows on the competition they’ll give Bafana ahead of back-to-back clashes against Liberia in March.

But Broos says they’ll take positive lessons from their clash against Leone Stars at FNB Stadium this afternoon, given that they are just 343km away from Liberia.

“When they asked what about Sierra Leone, I said ‘it’s okay’. It’s a little bit like Liberia. So that is going to be good preparation as well,” the 70-year-old said.

“It’s an opponent that has a little bit the same philosophy, kind of players and ways of playing like the Liberians.

“So, it will definitely be a good game for us.”

Bafana have to win the back-to-back matches against the Leone Stars as that will all but seal their spot in the postponed finals in Ivory Coast in 2024.

Morocco are expected to top Group G, with Liberia and Bafana set to contest for the runners-up spot following Fifa’s ban on Zimbabwe’s participation.

The Moroccans have all but secured their spot in the finals already, having won the first two games, including beating Bafana in their opening game.

Bafana’s loss against the Atlas Lions also marked their fourth successive game without a win. A feat that saw Broos heavily criticised by the local fans.

But the silver-haired coach is confident that getting back-to-back wins over the Leone

Stars and Zebras will restore the team’s confidence.

“We have to gain confidence after three losses against Ghana, France and Morocco. There was a lot of criticism around the team and myself,” he said.

“I think it was not a good idea to play against stronger teams and maybe – again – have defeats and have more criticism. So, we chose these two teams.

“But we don’t have to underestimate them.

“Certainly not. And now I know that the players know that those two games have to be two victories as well.”

With Bafana not going to the World Cup after that defeat to Ghana in the last game of the group stage, Broos wanted two other friendlies in November.

But that’s entirely out of his hands, given that the PSL has already allocated November 4 as the last weekend of matches before the World Cup break.

Moreover, there’s also the Carling Cup, which is set for November 12 at FNB, where the top four most-voted teams in the topflight will lock horns.