Coach Hugo Broos will call on the experience of lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with Cameroon in 2017 when he takes South Africa to this year’s finals but admits there is no blueprint for success at the "intense" continental championship.
Belgian Broos led Cameroon to an unlikely triumph in Gabon where his team were outsiders for the title, just like a South African team that has underachieved for the last two decades and are not seen by many as genuine contenders in the Ivory Coast.
With Tunisia, Mali and Namibia in their first-round group, Broos says he understands the challenges of the tournament much better than seven years ago.
"It’s not easy to take everything from 2017 and say, this is what you must do and how things will go," Broos told reporters on Monday. "But for me as a European, it was a very good experience to be there and to train an African team.
"It's totally different from Europe because of how intense the tournament is. All the teams are 500 per cent motivated.
"And therefore, the group stages are maybe the most difficult to pass through. Even the weakest team can win because they are so driven. Everybody wants to show something."
MIXED SUCCESS
Broos has had mixed success with South Africa since taking the reins in 2021 but can point to a deserved 2-1 home win over World Cup semifinalists Morocco in the qualifiers in June, and a credible 1-1 friendly draw with Ivory Coast in October.
"I believe in the players who are here, I know their qualities," he said. "And they showed that already against Morocco and Ivory Coast. That is South Africa, so let's hope we can achieve that level again."
The players have signed an agreement around tournament bonuses with the South African Football Association, always a thorny issue for African teams and one less thing for the coach to worry about.
"At one stage it was a little bit annoying," Broos said. "Players were not happy because they were not paid. And I understand that.
"But I told them also, you can do only one thing and that is put in performances, then you go on the bargaining table and you are the strongest party. And they did it."
South Africa play their opening group E game against Mali in Korhogo on 16 January.