Broos believes Bafana can surprise at AFCON

Coach Hugo Broos says he has the same feeling about this South Africa side that he had before leading Cameroon to a surprise Africa Cup of Nations victory in 2017 as Bafana Bafana prepare to face Mali in their tournament opener in Korhogo on Tuesday.

The Indomitable Lions were not on many people’s radar for the trophy seven years ago, but with a young team Broos went on a winning run as they defeated Egypt in the decider.

He is hoping to do the same with an underachieving South African outfit that has quality, but not always the ability to show that on the pitch.

“It’s the feeling I had with Cameroon. Nobody saw Cameroon as a favourite,” Broos said.

“When you win it once, you want to win it twice. It’s fantastic feeling winning the Afcon.

“I have said it before that I am European but the intensity and the joy and everything around winning an Afcon is unique. It’s really unique, so it was fantastic experience and you can be sure that I dream to do it for the second time.”

Bafana are in a tough pool that also includes third-ranked Tunisia and tricky neighbours Namibia, and Broos admits they have a arduous task ahead of them.

“Saying it is much easier than doing it, so let us start (against Mali) and let us do our best to see where we will arrive.”

Broos has only three overseas-based players in his squad and he admits that coming up against a side like Mali, where most of their squad are in top leagues in Europe, is difficult.

“I think that players who play in other countries have the advantage because the leagues are at a higher level, but that doesn’t mean our team isn’t strong,” he said. “It is not having players abroad that makes a strong team. We have to show our strength even though majority play at home.”

The coach says victory on Tuesday could set the tone for the rest of the competition.

“I hope we can achieve our best level so we can win the game, it's very important to start with victory,” he said.

"Mali is a very good team. We have a lot of information about them. With modern technology, so we are well prepared. We know the weaknesses, we know the strong points of their team."

Percy Tau will be key for Bafana with his experience and quality. He could come up against Al Ahly teammate Aliou Dieng.

"We are playing against a difficult side. Our group is difficult. We still have Namibia and Tunisia also. We are looking forward to all those matches," Tau said.

"We do believe in ourselves, we are not overconfident, we are grounded, but that does not take away that we can do something special. We want to do something special. That's the bottom line.

"It's going to be interesting to Aliou, he's a good player. We spoke a lot about this in the dressing room. Whoever wins makes the celebration of the other one. So hopefully I get to do his celebration then."