Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos hopes to see another bumper crowd when his charges face South Sudan in a Group K 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Cape Town on Tuesday evening.
Kick-off is at 18:00.
The match is reportedly sold out with 40 000 fans expected.
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The South African senior men’s national team qualified for the 2025 AFCON last Thursday and Broos said it would be the perfect way to bring the curtain down on a successful year if a packed Cape Town Stadium is on hand to welcome the side as they make their way down the tunnel.
The Belgian mentor insisted that while Bafana Bafana have qualified for the tournament to be held in Morocco next year, they would still go after the visitors as if it is still the first match of the qualifying campaign.
“We want to win the game. This is not a friendly game. For us it is an important game because we want to remain top of the group, and we also want to show something to the crowd that is expected at the stadium,” he said.
“We had two amazing evenings in Bloemfontein and in Gqeberha with great crowds and nice wins, so we want to do it again in Cape Town. It means we are still motivated for the game and again, it is very important for us to wrap up the qualifiers top of the group. It would be the cherry on top, as people say.”
Too expensive
Meanwhile, South Sudan coach Nicolas Dupuis said he has travelled to South Africa with only 15 players as they found the plane tickets too expensive to accommodate the whole team.
He said facing a team like Bafana Bafana while they are in the midst of a challenging period off the field is a tough ask to his players.
But he insisted that despite the difficulties, they would still put up a fight against the South Africans.
“I think South Africa is now one of the top five or six best teams in Africa. South Sudan is not the same level. We are going to play without any professional players, only local players. But my players are good, my players have good spirits, and we train a lot,” he said.
Rankings
Bafana Bafana are ranked 11ith in Africa and 60th in the world in the latest FIFA world rankings, while South Sudan are 47th on the continent and 172nd in the world.
South Africa beat South Sudan 3-2 in their away Group K qualifier in September.
Both Bafana Bafana and Uganda have already qualified from Group K.
Congo will host Uganda in their final qualifier at the Alphonse Massamba-Debat Stadium in Brazzaville on Tuesday, also at 18:00 (SA time).
Your score prediction for the match?
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