Menzi Magubane
This Thursday, all eyes will be on Bafana Bafana when they take on Morocco in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier opening match.
The match at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco will be the first time Bafana will play Morocco in their backyard.
The two sides have already met seven times but never in Morocco and never for an Afcon qualifier.
The last time they met was in the 2019 Afcon quarterfinals in a game which did not go well for Bafana. The South Africans were eliminated after losing 1-0.
On Sunday night, Bafana landed in Morocco to prepare, hoping that they will return to Mzansi with a positive result.
Their past meetings have been tight with both teams having won twice and drawn three times. Bafana last beat Morocco 20 years ago in the 2002 Afcon.
Anything could happen on Thursday might and getting a point away may satisfy the Bafana supporters as well as head coach Hugo Broos.
Any positive result they can come away with in Morocco could give Broos and his side the boost they need.
After Thursday’s match Bafana will host Liberia in September.
Meanwhile, African football governing body CAF has given Liberia the thumbs up to host their home matches in Morocco. Liberia do not have venues that meet CAF criteria and they opted to use Moroccan stadiums as their home matches in the qualifiers.
The South African Football Association (Safa) were not happy with Liberia’s request as they felt that it would give Morocco an advantage. All three teams are in the same group.
Image source: @Goal
