By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bafana Bafana’s camp is in full swing as they prepare to travel to Morocco next Thursday for their opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
But they can look to history for some inspiration, not only in matches against North African opponents, but also Morocco themselves.
Bafana Bafana mentor Hugo Broos describes Morocco as “good” but beatable as he takes inspiration from North Macedonia’s victory over Italy in the World Cup semi-final playoffs in March this year.
“With modern technology, you can have as much information about your opponent as possible, and with my staff, we looked at many games of Morocco,” Broos told reporters.
“We know their players are very good; we know their team is very good. So, we have a plan. We will see if that plan can succeed next Thursday.
“We know what we have to do, and one thing is very important is to have the right mentality and to have the confidence because if you go to Morocco with fear, then it is better that you stay here (in South Africa).
“If you are afraid of Morocco, don’t go to Morocco. You can never have a good result. You have to believe in your own qualities. You have to believe it can happen.
Coach Vahid Halilhodzic’s team will be the favourites with home advantage and as they build towards the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
But they have also had their troubles of late, not least a row between Halilhodzic and star player Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea which means the latter remains absent from the squad having vowed not to play again under the coach.
Halilhodzic had accused Ziyech of faking injury to skip national team matches last year and it did not go down well with the player.
Paris St Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi is one of the best in the business and a massive part of Morocco’s recent qualification success.
Centre-back Romain Saïss is an important player for Wolverhampton Wanderers in England, as is midfielder Sofyan Amrabat for Fiorentina in Serie A.
They also have two LaLiga stars in the Sevilla forward duo of Munir El Haddadi and Youssef En-Nesyri, while they a third Moroccan is at the club in the form of first-choice goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
They did have a hiccup this week after losing 3-0 to the United States in a friendly in Cincinnati that will have been a wake-up call and not done Halilhodzic any favours in the eyes of the public, who are already sceptical after his fallout with the popular Ziyech.
Bafana have generally done well against North African sides in the past, with only Tunisia (2-3) having a positive win/loss record against them. And South Africa could argue they won the one that mattered, the 1996 Cup of Nations final.
Otherwise they lead Egypt (7-4), Libya (1-0) and Morocco (2-1) on the head-to-head, while they are level with Algeria (1-1). Overall they lead North Africans sides 13-9 in terms of victories.
Bafana’s first meeting with Morocco was a Cup of Nations quarterfinal in 1998 as they won 2-1 thanks to goals from Benni McCarthy and David Nyathi, which was to be the latter’s only ever international strike.
The teams met again in the 2002 continental finals, this time in the pool stages, and Bafana triumphed once more, claiming a 3-1 success as Sibusiso Zuma, Thabo Mngomeni and Siyabonga Nomvethe all scored within a blistering nine-minute spell either side of halftime.
But that would be Bafana’s last success. In 2004 the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the pool stages of the finals as Patrick Mayo gave Bafana the lead, while there was a 2-2 draw at the continental finals South Africa hosted in 2013 as May Mahlangu and Siyabonga Sangweni netted.
Later that year they played to a 1-1 friendly draw in Agadir which saw Tokelo Rantie score early for Bafana, before Morocco finally claimed a win over South Africa in a senior international fixture.
They claimed a 1-0 success in the pool stages of the 2019 Cup of Nations in Egypt, when the side was, at the time, coached by Herve Renard. It was also their last meeting.
Liberia are the only other team in Bafana’s group after Zimbabwe were disqualified for to their Fifa suspension.
That makes matches against the west Africans crucial as they clash in home-and-away fixtures in September, but anything Bafana can get in Rabat on Thursday will also be a huge boost to their qualification chances.