South Africa Not Afraid of Egypt – Hugo Broos

South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has urged his players not to be intimidated by individual stars in the Egyptian team as they prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) match.

Egypt will look to Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush to power past Bafana Bafana after both players scored in the Pharaohs’ 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe in their opening match.

Broos stated that they won’t focus on individual players in the game.

“We are focused on no one [in particular among the opposition players]. The most important thing is the team. We all know how good Salah is; we all know how good Marmoush is, and we all know how good Trézéguet is and other players,” Broos told the media in Thursday’s pre-match press conference.

“They are such a good team. Why should we focus on one player? We have to be prepared to beat the team, rather than think Salah doesn’t play well or Marmoush doesn’t play well. No, for us, it’s the team that’s important, and we don’t really focus on one player.”

Broos said he would not abandon his team’s philosophy despite the quality of the opposition, stressing that while Egypt are a strong side, his players must still trust their own strengths.

He acknowledged that facing Egypt requires greater caution than games against teams like Zimbabwe or Angola, describing the Pharaohs as a level above. However, he insisted that his side would not completely tailor its approach to the opponent.

According to him, the focus would be on expressing their own qualities and maintaining the style of play that has worked for them in the past, adding that Egypt can only be put under pressure if his team plays with confidence and sticks to its identity.

“First of all, there are some things we have to take into account, because we are playing against a very good team. That is true, but we will never adapt ourselves 100% to an opponent.

“Surely, there are some precautions we have to take. It’s not a team like Zimbabwe; it’s not a team like Angola. This is a team a level higher, but in the other way, we don’t have to forget our qualities. We don’t have to forget the way we played in the past.”