Mark Williams: Bafana Bafana now team to beat in Morocco

The former national team striker says that, while the element of surprise may no longer work in coach Hugo Broos’ favour, Bafana’s third-place finish at the last edition has placed a target on their backs. 

Speaking at a Castle Lager send-off event, Williams feels Broos should embrace that status and use it to his advantage.  

"You must remember, as coaches, they're always going to try and play a trump card and say that other countries are not strong anymore – Bafana had a bit of luck [in 2024]," said Williams.

"That means you're taking the pressure away from the players, and that is good coaching because, if you're going to put us in the deep end and say, 'Bafana is here' – they know Bafana is here, nobody wants to play against Bafana.

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"I think, believe me, even Egypt doesn't want to play against them; Angola – the most difficult game we played in 1996, the guy from Angola almost took out my teeth, they were physical.

"But I think because of all the experience we've got now, we played in the Champions League with Sundowns winning it, and Chiefs [being in the final], so these players now have the experience and they just need to believe and go out to compete.

"I think if we can compete and play our type of football, we can be unstoppable – I would like us to see more shots on target because I always say goals win games, we don't have to wait for the 90th minute to play.

"I think, from the coach now, I would like to see the first 20 minutes because if we score first, it's going to be very difficult to beat us."