Bafana’s chance for new life

● Bafana Bafana will tackle two-time world champions France in a friendly match in March.

Speaking to the Sunday Times from Belgium, Bafana boss Hugo Broos said his team would exchange friendly fire with the Didier Deschamps-coached Les Blues during the Fifa international week of March 21-29.

“We are playing in March against France and I think against Zambia after that. Those are two good games for us to prepare for the qualifiers for Afcon in June. You are playing against the world champs.”

Broos said it was important for Bafana, who did not qualify for the World Cup in Qatar this year, to test themselves against high-profile opposition as they begin preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

“Strong opposition gives you proper preparation. Even if you lose those games, it is not a train smash. You can learn a lot of things ... and get an indication of where your team is at. Immediately you will see where the weaknesses are,” he said.

He said that locking horns with France would help him gauge the progress the team has made since his appointment last May.

“Such games tell you the distance the team has covered. They give you something more. Maybe that is what we needed and didn’t have for the qualifiers for the World Cup. We didn’t really play tough games.”

The 69-year-old said he had the requisite know-how to breathe life back into Bafana and get them to be respected again.

“When you become a coach for a national team or a club, you always want to win otherwise you are not a good coach. You try to find a way to build a victorious team. I am an old man. But that old man has a lot of experience. This is very important. All the problems you can have as a coach, 35 years of experience prepares you how to deal with different challenges. You sort of know what to do when this challenge happens.

“When you are a young coach, you look too much at yourself. You have no experience to look at the team. But now I am nearly at the end of my career, I can focus on everything. I have had it all already.”

Broos said he had put behind him Fifa’s dismissal of the protest by the South African Football Association over the handling of the World Cup qualifier when Senegal referee Ndiaye Maguette awarded Ghana a penalty that gave them victory that ended Bafana’s hopes of reaching Qatar later this year.

“It was clear that this referee whistled against SA. But then you have to prove that it is Ghana who told the ref to handle the game in their favour, or gave him the money to do that, or that the ref was betting. If you don’t do that, you don’t have a case. It is a pity. Three weeks ago I saw the game again on my laptop. I was furious again because what happened is unbelievable.

“It is in the past, a bad souvenir. We must move on. We ended first with Ghana. We did a fantastic race. Now we focus on Afcon 2023. If we don’t succeed, you can kill me if we don’t qualify for Afcon 23.”