South Africa head coach Hugo Broos says he will run the rule over new players when Bafana Bafana take on Tanzania in an International Friendly, set for the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on the evening of Friday 6 June. Kick-off is at 7.30pm CAT.
South Africa come into the match on the back of successive 2-0 wins over Lesotho (home) and Benin (away) in March which kept them firmly on track to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
And the chance to take a closer look at different players in this international window – especially with Mamelodi Sundowns stars unavailable due to their participation in the upcoming Fifa Club World Cup – will be valuable for Bafana ahead of the resumption of World Cup qualifiers in September, when they will face crunch matches against Lesotho and Nigeria.
“We play friendly games. I think it’s a good opportunity for everyone to prove themselves to show their qualities for us to make evaluations after these two friendly games,” said Broos.
“Sundowns has always been very important in the national team. We will do it without the Sundowns players and having too many players from one club is not good.”
Tanzania, who are also preparing for the resumption of World Cup qualifiers in September, as well as the upcoming Cecafa Senior Men's Challenge Cup, were last in action in March, recording a 3-0 home win over Congo and 0-2 defeat away to Morocco.
The Taifa Stars, who will also compete in the Cosafa Cup after their full ‘A’ friendly against Bafana (who themselves have an alternate side in the regional tournament, led by coach Vela Khumalo) have selected a strong squad, featuring a strong representation from Simba SC, who reached the final of the CAF Confederation Cup.
Tanzania are also boosted by the presence of foreign-based stars Simon Msuva (Al Talaba, Iraq), Selemani Mwalimu (Wydad AC, Morocco) and Alphonce Mabula (Shamakhi, Azerbaijan).
In head-to-head stats, South Africa and Tanzania have met in three previous matches. The first was a Four Nations tournament match in October 2002 which ended 1-1 before the Taifa Stars won on penalties; the second saw Bafana win 1-0 in a friendly in 2011; and the latest meeting was a 2017 Cosafa Cup clash in which the East Africans triumphed 1-0.