Belgian Hugo Broos, the coach of the South African national team, confirmed that his strategy to face the Egyptian national team in the second round of the group stage of the African Cup of Nations will not rely on individual marking of the Pharaohs’ stars, stressing the need to deal with the opponent as a single unit.
At a press conference held on Thursday, Bruce explained that focusing solely on stopping Liverpool star Mohamed Salah or Bundesliga's Omar Marmoush would be a serious tactical error. The veteran coach said, "We don't focus on one player; the most important thing is the team as a whole, because we would make a big mistake if we concentrated all our efforts on just one player in the Egyptian squad.".
Egypt's offensive strength and the challenge of "Bafana Bafana"
Bruce added, praising the quality of the Egyptian national team's attacking players: “We know very well how good Salah is, and we know what Omar Marmoush offers, as well as Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet. They are a very good team with multiple solutions, so why focus on one name? We have to be ready to beat the whole team, and not just focus on preventing Salah or Marmoush from playing well.”.
This match comes at a crucial time for both teams, as they share the top spot in Group B with 3 points each, following Egypt's hard-fought victory over Zimbabwe thanks to goals from Salah and Marmoush in the second half, and South Africa's similar 2-1 win against Angola. The upcoming encounter will be decisive in breaking the tie and determining which team will advance as group winners in the tournament hosted by Morocco.
A history full of revenge attacks
Matches between Egypt and South Africa are always highly competitive and exciting in Africa. Historically, the two teams have met three times in the Africa Cup of Nations, with Egypt holding a two-goal advantage, most notably winning the title in the 1998 final in Burkina Faso with a 2-0 victory.
However, the memory of the Egyptian and South African fans still retains the details of the last encounter in the 2019 edition hosted by Egypt, when the “Bafana Bafana” team succeeded in eliminating the Pharaohs from the round of sixteen with a killer goal, which gives a revenge character to tomorrow’s match.
It is worth noting that Hugo Broos himself has a special history against Egypt, as he led the Cameroonian national team to victory over the Pharaohs in the final of the 2017 edition in Gabon, which makes him a coach who knows very well how to deal with Egyptian football in big matches, which increases the difficulty and importance of the anticipated encounter.
