South Africa Coach, Hugo Broos Begs His Players Not To Fear Super Eagles

South Africa head coach, Hugo Broos believes his players were unlucky against the Super Eagles during the 2023 AFCON as he urged them to be confident against Nigeria on Friday.

Recall that the Super Eagles of Nigeria and South Africa met during the semi-final stage of the 2023 AFCON. After playing 1-1 in regulation time, the clash was settled via a penalty shootout which Nigeria won 4:2.

For the first time since the penalty shootout in Abidjan in February 2024, the Super Eagles and South Africa will meet in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Uyo on Friday, June 7.

Ahead of the must-win game for the Super Eagles, Hugo Broos reflected on how his team almost defeated Nigeria at AFCON and how they drew 3-3 with Algeria in an international friendly on March 26, 2024.

Broos, whose team will face Zimbabwe four days after clashing with the Super Eagles, urged his team not to be afraid of the star-studded Nigerian team.

“Let’s go to Nigeria and Zimbabwe and qualify for the World Cup. Everybody knows that every one of us wants to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2026, but we are in front of two very tough games,” Broos told Farpost.

“First of all, Nigerian AFCON finalists are players who are playing in the best competitions in Europe. On the other side, we saw what we could do against them at AFCON; if we had a little bit of luck against them, we would be in the final and not Nigeria.

“I think we were the best team in the semifinals; we could have won that. So we don’t have to be afraid.”