While Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos agrees that beating Uganda in their own backyard on Friday will be tough, he remains confident that his charges can carry out the assignment in Kampala on Friday.
Broos’ charges face Uganda away from home in Kampala on Friday, 15 November 2024, and then return home to tackle South Sudan at DHL Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday 19 November in Cape Town in matches that could see the South African senior men’s national team qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) to be held in Morocco next year.
The Belgian mentor had his first training session with his players on the opening day of camp in Johannesburg on Monday, and he said he has absolute confidence in his players and believes they can secure qualification on Friday.
“We can end 2024 on a fantastic note. We started the year very well with the bronze medal (at the Afcon in Ivory Coast) and it would be nice to end it with qualification for Afcon again,” he said. “We will try to qualify in the first game (against Uganda).
"It will not be easy because we are playing against an opponent who is already qualified, and who is confident. I think they played very good qualifiers, and they are playing at home. But in the past, we succeeded in winning difficult games and we know we can do it because we have quality in the team.”
Broos confirmed that Mihlali Mayambela has been withdrawn from the squad after he picked up an injury while playing for his Cypriot club Aris Limassol at the weekend. He has been replaced by Devin Titus, who is already in the camp in Johannesburg.
The Bafana Bafana coach has almost all his players in camp and the only outstanding names are Luke Le Roux and Siyabonga Ngezana, who are expected on Tuesday.
Bafana Bafana are in second place in Group K with eight points, just two behind group leaders Uganda (10 points).
Tickets to the game in Cape Town have gone on sale. The South African Football Association (SAFA) confirmed a few days ago that tickets to the highly anticipated encounter are available at TicketPro outlets, Spar, SuperSpar, Putco, Postnet, Jam clothing, and at Shell, SASOL and BP garages.
The gates at the stadium will open at 15h00 and the tickets are priced at R60.00 for adults. Kids, scholars and students will pay R30.00 (school uniform and student cards required for over 12-year-olds).
© SAFA.net