Bafana test themselves against France
South Africa will get a measure of their progress under coach Hugo Broos when they face reigning world champions France in an international friendly at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Ascq on Tuesday 29 March.
Kick-off is at 9:15pm CAT.
Bafana Bafana come into the clash on the back of a 0-0 draw against Guinea in a friendly in Belgium last Friday night, a match in which both teams had plenty of attacking chances, but failed to ripple the back of the net.
South Africa are highly unlikely to get as many opportunities against the French on Tuesday night and will need to be far more efficient in front of goal if they are to spring a surprise.
Broos said; “We know that South Africa does not really have a top scorer who needs only one chance to score.
“It’s something that has to do with confidence.
”The day we start scoring, that problem will be solved. “It’s difficult to fix the problem of not converting chances. It’s up to the players.”
He said; ”As a coach, you can only give them confidence, especially the strikers. You mustn’t talk too much about it because it’s already in their heads that they didn’t score.”
The Belgian coach fielded something of an experimental line-up against Guinea, and he is set to change the selection for the clash with the 2018 World Cup winners.
Broos said; “There will be a different team against France. There will be other players. But it will be a different team because I said before that I would give every player minutes.
“It started against Guinea, and I will do the same thing against France. I want to give them a chance to show their qualities.”
Meanwhile, France will be facing African opposition for the second successive game, following a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast on Friday in Marseille.
Les Bleus found themselves 1-0 down after Nicolas Pepe opened the scoring for the Elephants, but they soon levelled through Olivier Giroud (who is just four goals off the all-time record of 51 goals for the French national team held by the legendary Thierry Henry) and snatched a late winner through Aurelien Tchouameni.
France coach Didier Deschamps says he will not be taking the challenge of South Africa lightly, and has identified some key danger men for his side to be wary of.
“I know the offensive players, (Keagan) Dolly, and the two forwards (Victor) Letsoalo and (Evidence) Makgopa, and (Ethan) Brooks, the young player,” Deschamps said.
He said; “South Africa has a new generation of players. They are local players who don’t have a lot of international experience but obviously we have watched South African games, the last several games, and I watched the last game in Belgium against Guinea, but I don’t think it will be the same team because there are a lot of players.”
In head-to-head stats, SA and France have met in four previous matches dating back as far as 1997. Les Bleus have claimed two wins compared to one for Bafana, while one game has been drawn.
The teams last met in the group phase of the 2010 World Cup, with South Africa winning 2-1 in Bloemfontein thanks to goals from Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela.
SuperSport/Mercy Chukwudieber
