'We're playing for prestige' - Bafana coach Broos wants redemption against Morocco

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos said there's plenty of prestige at stake in Saturday's African Cup of Nation qualifier between them and Morocco at the FNB Stadium.

Both teams have qualified for the tournament from Group G but have picked their strongest possible squads for what is also a geo-political grudge match.

The South African and Moroccan governments don't quite get along, especially over Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara.

This hasn't always spilt out onto the field, but continental club games between South African and Moroccan teams have generally been spicy.

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For Broos, there's nothing academic about the game.

"Both teams may have qualified, but we're playing for prestige, which is very important," Broos said.

"It'll be very important for Morocco to beat us, and it'll be more important for us to beat them because that's us beating the best team on the continent at the moment.

"The one thing I can be sure of is that the motivation is there."

Broos hopes his side will be far more responsive and proactive to Morocco's challenge than in 2022.

Bafana scored first in last year's 2-1 loss through Lyle Foster, but they were thoroughly dominated after that.

Broos admitted as much, saying they need to redeem themselves against what he thinks is the best team on the continent.

"We were in the game for the first 15 minutes against Morocco, but after that, we were dominated in every line and way," Broos said.

"We dominated in speed, technique and everything you can think of. We were lucky that we only lost 2-1.

"I don't want that to be the case in the game on Saturday, even though there will be moments where we will be dominated.

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