South Africa coach Hugo Broos is predicting that the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco will go with form and there will be few shocks at the tournament, which gets underway on Sunday.
“I don’t think that the big countries will make the same mistake they did two years ago.
“As you remember, many big countries were not qualified for the knockout or were soon out of the tournament,” Broos said on Sunday at the pre-match press conference before Bafana Bafana’s opening group B match against Angola in Marrakech.
“I think of Egypt, I think of Cameroon, I think of Ghana, Morocco and so on. That will not happen now. I think they learned their lesson from the last Afcon.
“This Afcon will be tougher than the one in the Ivory Coast,” he added.
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South Africa, under Broos, rode their luck to reach the semifinals and eventually take the bronze medal at the last edition just under two years ago.
“Normally, all the big teams will be there after the group stages. So that means it will be very tough to win this Afcon.
“I think if you can call a favourite, it’s Morocco, because they are a very good team and playing at home. For all the rest, it will be a challenge.
“We will see after the group stages which teams are still there. And then maybe we can change our opinion.
“But now for the moment, you will not hear me saying that South Africa is one of the favourites.”