South Africa face a crunch Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying match when they take on hosts Liberia at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Monrovia on Tuesday.
Kick-off is at 6pm CAT.
The teams met in Soweto on Friday evening and played out a 2-2 draw. Bafana Bafana were in complete control of the match after establishing a 2-0 lead inside the opening quarter – thanks to a brace from Lyle Foster – but the Lone Star fought back in the second half to secure a vital away draw.
Tonia Tisdell struck midway through the second half, before a superb last-gasp equaliser from Mohammed Sangare put the West Africans in a great position as far as potential Afcon qualification is concerned.
Group K features just three teams (following Zimbabwe’s disqualification) and is currently topped by Morocco (six points), who have already guaranteed a spot at next year’s tournament thanks to earlier wins over SA and Liberia (one point apiece).
This leaves Bafana and the Lone Star scrapping it out for one spot, and makes this match in Monrovia an absolute must-not-lose, as the teams look to qualify for the Afcon for the first time since 2019 (SA) and 2002 (Liberia).
Bafana coach Hugo Broos was so angered by his team giving up a strong position on Friday that he did not answer any questions in his post-match press conference.
“First of all, I have to apologise today because I will not give comment on this game,” said the Belgian. “I will not answer your questions, there is too much disappointment, too much frustration and too much anger in my body. If I say now what I think, it will not be nice.”
Broos has come under pressure for a seeming lack of progress under his leadership, and a failure in Monrovia could signal the end of his tenure.
As for Liberia’s Ansumana Keita, the coach was delighted with his team’s showing in Soweto and will be confident of an even better result on home soil.
“I told my players in the dressing room ‘if Bafana Bafana score 100, we score 100’. When they scored there was no worry. I told them to stay calm. Focused,” noted Keita.
"It was difficult for us, it’s a new team. It’s a new generation. We have a lot of new players from Europe, and we know it’s tough in Africa, but you have to adapt."
He added: “We knew we would suffer. We knew Bafana Bafana would miss a lot of goals but it’s football. One has to miss and one has to capitalise on that. So we keep our calm. We defended well and we got a good result.”
A win for either SA or Liberia would secure qualification for next year’s Afcon (on head-to-head count-back at least), while a draw would leave the teams needing to better each other’s result in matches against Morocco in June and September.