South Africa head coach Hugo Broos speaks ahead of Nigeria clash

Nigeria will travel to South Africa to take on Bafana Bafana in a week’s time…

Head coach of the South African Football Team Hugo Broos has revealed he’s not thinking about his side’s World Cup Qualifying clash against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Soccernet.ng reports.

The AFCON 2023 bronze medallists are currently top of Group D, six points above Eric Chelle’s side and the pair will meet next week Tuesday.

South Africa played a 1-1 draw against the Super Eagles when both sides met in June 2024, with Nigeria still under the tutelage of Finidi George.

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South Africa will also lock horns against Lesotho in three days before welcoming Nigeria to the Free State Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein next Tuesday.

Their head coach, Broos, has labelled all their upcoming fixtures as must-win games, although he mentioned he’s unfazed by Nigeria’s star-studded squad.

“The game next Friday is about a week away and I don’t want to think about Nigeria for the moment,” Broos said when addressing a press conference on Monday at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto, in quotes revealed by TimesLive ZA.

“We will see after the game with Lesotho who and how we are going to play against Nigeria. My focus is on Lesotho because I know that is the most important game for the moment.”

“It is important we get victory against them [Lesotho] because if we don’t maybe we are going have more troubles in the future.

“There is the game against Nigeria and we have to play against Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

“We have to avoid dropping points. That will put us under stress when we play against Zimbabwe and Rwanda in October. Because of this, we need the victory on Friday and follow that up with Nigeria,” the Belgian gaffer concluded.

For Eric Chelle’s side, preparations have already begun ahead of their clash against Rwanda at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

Werder Bremen’s Felix Agu, Nantes’ Chidozie Awaziem and Boavista defender Bruno Onyemaechi were among the first to check into training camp on Monday, alongside teenager Benjamin Frederick and goalkeeper Adebayo Adeleye. In total, 15 Super Eagles stars have arrived. 

Adefolahan Guerreiro

Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria.

With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience.


He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, Sikiru Alimi, Sodiq Ismaila and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.