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Sports Reporter
THE South African media is confident Bafana Bafana will qualify from Group B at the 2025 AFCON finals in Morocco in December.
It appears all its focus is on Egypt and they believe the other two teams − Zimbabwe and Angola − are only adding up the numbers in the group.
Here is how the South African media has been reacting to the draw:
FOOTBALL WRITER JOHN GOLIATH WRITING FOR IOL SPORT
“While Bafana Bafana’s group will have a distinct Southern African feel, they will come up against the giants of African football Egypt and their Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
“Bafana, who entered the draw in Pot 2, were also drawn with neighbours Zimbabwe and Angola in Monday evening’s draw in Rabat.
“They will certainly fancy their chances against their SADC partners, before going up against the Egyptians for the right to possibly top the group.
“It’s not an impossible task, as Bafana beat hosts Egypt in Egypt 1-0 in the 2019 AFCON fcon quarter-finals thanks to a goal by Thembinkosi Lorch. Later that year, Bafana also beat Egypt in Egypt in a 2021 AFCON qualifier when Lyle Foster scored the game’s only goal.
“Coach Hugo Broos’ Bafana finished the 2023 AFCON in the Ivory Coast third place after beating DR Congo 6-5 on penalties after the match ended goalless. The victory over DR Congo also ensured that South Africa earned the bronze medal for the first time since 2000.
“Bafana went through their 2025 qualifying campaign unbeaten, topping their group with 14 points from six matches, scoring 16 goals and conceding just five. This will give them a lot of confidence heading into the tournament, which will be played between from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.”
KICKOFF
Former Bafana Bafana striker Katlego Mashego believes Hugo Broos’ troops can finish top of their group in the 2025 AFCON finals, which are scheduled to take place in Morocco in December.
“It’s not a bad group for us, especially considering how we performed in the last AFCON in Ivory Coast. All three teams will likely be concerned about Bafana. South Africa has a good chance to top this group. We should be favourites to win (it).
“The worst-case scenario for us would be finishing third. Ideally, we’d want to finish second to advance to the knockout stages. Getting out of this group is definitely possible and achievable.
“With the current state of the national team, we shouldn’t be looking for new players or rebuilding the squad. The coach already knows the core group of the team.
“However, that doesn’t mean we should ignore any players who suddenly hit top form. During the last AFCON, people were not expecting South Africa to perform as well as we did. But this year, all eyes will be on us.
“Still, we need to aim to win AFCON this year. We are not just hoping to reach the semi-finals. Our goal is to win the trophy. We must strive for gold. We are going to Morocco to win the cup.”
THE CITIZEN NEWSPAPER
Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele believes Egypt will be out for revenge when the two teams meet at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Morocco later this year.
“We know Egypt will try to make sure they settle the score of 2019, but for us what happened is history,” Mkhalele told SABC Sport from Rabat.
“For us it is important to make sure the team improves. We want to get into the knockout stages and … to win the trophy. But our main goal is to make sure the team improves on their past performances.”
It will be a tall order for Bafana to repeat their achievement at the last Afcon in the Ivory Coast, when they exceeded expectations in bringing home a bronze medal.
Bafana should be able to at least get to the knockout rounds, however, and will be favourites to beat Zimbabwe and Angola.
“I knew with a huge number of SADC teams qualified for the competition, that two would be drawn in our group.
“It is a tough group. We all know each other and all the teams have improved. So for us it is to make sure we continue where we left off in terms of the AFCON.”
Online Reporter