South Africa National Team head coach Hugo Broos has already outlined his target for the 2023 Ivory Coast Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be played next year.
Broos had previously told South Africans to ‘kill him’ if the Bafana Bafana did not qualify for the 2023 AFCON.
Following the team’s qualification for next year’s edition, after a 2-1 win over Liberia in Monrovia on Tuesday, the gaffer has made yet another promise.
Speaking after the nerve-wracking match in Monrovia, Broos said his target is to see the team reach the knockout stages.
He has put his head on the chopping board by saying he should be “killed” if Bafana Bafana does not go past the group stage of the continent’s biggest football showpiece.
“I said that people should kill me if we do not go to the AFCON…. And now that we have made it,” he said. “They [fans)]should kill me if we do not go through the group phases of the tournament.”
Qualification to the Africa Cup is a relief to Broos after seeing his side give away a 2-nil lead to draw 2-2 in the first leg played in South Africa last week.
“This win was important for us,” he added. “Because we have a new team with young players and we did it.”
Broos believes Bafana Bafana shouldn’t be missing AFCON
The gaffer said South Africa deserves to compete at the biggest African football showpiece. He wondered why they failed to qualify for the previous edition.
South Africa who won the AFCON in 1998 AFCON, last appeared at the tournament in 2019 where they reached the quarterfinals.
“This is a country that normally should be at every AFCON…. And I did not understand why we couldn’t qualify in the last years.
”We can only progress over the next 10 months with good preparations against opponents from whom we can learn something,” he stated.
RELATED ARTICLE: Namibia beat Cameroon for the first time in history in AFCON qualifiers.
South Africa qualified with four points from 3 matches, two less than Group K leaders Morocco.
Liberia, on the other hand, remains bottom with one point and are out of the race. The group was reduced to 3 teams following the ban imposed on Zimbabwe by FIFA.
The Bafana Bafana will now host Morocco in June for the final group of the AFCON qualifiers.
