Coach of the South African football team, Hugo Broos, has revealed his team won’t be out for revenge when they take on Nigeria on Friday, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Super Eagles defeated the Bafana Bafana in the AFCON 2023 semi-final on penalties after the game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.
Stanley Nwabali was the hero in Ivory Coast, saving two penalties. Fate brought both sides together as they were drawn into the same World Cup Qualifying group, and talks of a revenge for the South Africans have been played up.
Speaking in his press conference today, Broos dismissed any talk of revenge, reiterating his team’s target to be three points to aid their journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We want to have a good result against Nigeria because this is a qualifier for the World Cup and we don’t think about revenge. Losing the game should not be a disaster because, after that, we still have six games to play, but I would rather not have a defeat to Nigeria,” the former Club Brugge manager said in quotes revealed by IOL.
Broos insisted that regardless of the result, he has confidence in his team’s ability to cross the line to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We know all about them but they also know all about us. I think they will not start the game with the same mentality they had at AFCON because they know how strong we are. We have to use our status of being the team that finished third at Afcon but at the same time, we must stay humble. We still have to work, fight and produce the same mentality we showed at AFCON,” the Belgian concluded.
South Africa last participated in a FIFA World Cup in 2010, which was the one they hosted. The Super Eagles last featured on the World’s biggest stage in Russia, 2018.
