Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos hopes he doesn’t have another ‘bad experience’ on a synthetic pitch
FILE - Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos pictured on the sidelines. Broos hopes his players can cope with the synthetic pitch they will encounter against Congo-Brazzaville. FILE - Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos pictured on the sidelines. Broos hopes his players can cope with the synthetic pitch they will encounter against Congo-Brazzaville. Picture: Issouf Sanogo / AFP
Bafana Bafana have had their first taste of the much-talked about synthetic pitch where their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo-Brazzaville will be played on Tuesday.
Bafana had a light training session at the Stade Alphonse Massamba-Debat de Brazzaville on Monday, where a light drizzle helped to cool down the scorching day-time temperatures.
Bafana coach Hugo Broos voiced his concern about the pitch after their clinical 5-0 win over the same opponents on Friday night in the more posh surroundings of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, which was purpose built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
“My only concern is to see the pitch there. It’s a synthetic pitch,” Broos said. “We’ve already had bad experiences with synthetic pitches in the past if they are not good. I think of the one in Rwanda, that was really bad,” Broos said.
Bafana Bafana training at Stade Alphonse Massamba-Debat de Brazzaville, the match venue for the 2025 AFCON qualifier against Congo Brazzaville tomorrow afternoon. There was a slight drizzle in Brazzaville today, and it helped cool temperatures #BafanaPride #AfconQualifier pic.twitter.com/iAzVp9uKFT
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) October 14, 2024
“I never understand how you can play a qualifier for a World Cup on such a pitch. But okay, let’s look first at that and if the pitch is for example like the one in South Sudan, then we can’t complain.
“Let’s hope that the pitch is good and we can make or play our best football like we are used to because this team will want revenge.”
A win in Brazzaville will see Bafana qualify for the next AFCON in Morocco, which will be played from December next year.
Bafana and Uganda are level on sevens points after three matches in the Group K. Congo-Brazzaville are on three points from their three matches, while South Sudan are yet to open their account.
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