South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has explained why he turned down an offer to play a friendly match against Africa’s top-ranked side, Morocco, during the upcoming June FIFA international window.

Broos cited the absence of key players, particularly from Mamelodi Sundowns, as the main reason for rejecting the high-profile fixture.

The Belgian coach emphasized that without his strongest squad available, taking on a full-strength Moroccan team would be a risk he’s not willing to take.

“Playing against top teams, you have to do it with your best team. And not not with like now all the players of Sundowns are not there. You have a lot of young players in,” said Broos.

He confirmed that Morocco had reached out with a proposal for a friendly match but said he immediately declined.

“We had a call from Morocco to play against Morocco. Immediately I said no because I don’t want to have a game like France.”

Broos was referring to South Africa’s 5-0 thrashing at the hands of France in a friendly back in 2022 — a match that remains a painful memory for the coach and fans alike.

“And nobody understand if you play against Morocco and you have a big defeat, everybody is angry. I know why and I understand it, but people don’t understand it.

“So, you need to choose a good opponent, a strong opponent, but not the strongest of South Africa. Then you you you put yourself in trouble,” he added.

Instead, Bafana Bafana will play against Tanzania and Mozambique — two fixtures Broos believes are better suited to the youthful and experimental squad he will field in June.

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