Staff Reporter.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was left disappointed by the manner of his side’s defeat to Morocco in their opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Rabat on Thursday,
Bafana led early through Lyle Foster, but had to withstand a barrage of Moroccan attacks, conceding the losing goal three minutes from fulltime.
“It’s not the result we wanted,” Broos said. “For a long time in the game, I thought we could win, then after the first goal we conceded I was happy to take one point. To concede the second goal so close to the end was disappointing.”
Bafana now face crunch home and away clashes against Liberia in September as they seek to book their place at the finals in Ivory Coast next year.
With Zimbabwe having been disqualified from the competition due to their FIFA suspension, it is now a three-team pool with the top two advancing to the continental showpiece event.
“We now know what to do in September,” Broos said. “I was not disappointed with the performance. We fought for it against a very strong Moroccan team, so that was good. Let’s hope we can do it twice in September with two victories.”
Bafana will host Morocco in their final qualifier next March but will hope to have completed the job by then. Liberia take on Morocco in their first qualifier on Monday, a game that is their ’home’ fixture, but will be played in Casablanca as their own venue does not meet Confederation of African Football standards.