Bafana Bafana will be hoping to kickstart the international break with a positive result when they take on Guinea in Belgium on Friday evening with kick off set for 7pm.
BET ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES
The South African national team come into this friendly off the back off a 1-0 defeat to Ghana in their last game when the two nations squared off in the Fifa World Cup group stage qualifier at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium on 14 November 2021, with Andre Ayew’s 33rd minute penalty proving to be the difference between the two teams.
Meanwhile, Guinea will be hoping to bounce back and return to winning ways after they were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the Round of 16 through a narrow 1-0 defeat to Gambia at the Stade du 28 Septembre on 24 January 2022 courtesy of a 71st-minute goal by Musa Barrow, who fired his side into the quarter-finals of the competition.
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos: “I said it already when I came here (in May last year) I did not understand why a country like South Africa was not always playing at the Afcon.
“I said it already, for me these are important games, difficult games, but I asked for difficult games. In the past I am told that it was not usual for South Africa to play tough friendly games.
“I’ll be able to assess how strong my team is after these two friendly matches.
“After the World Cup qualifiers I felt as if we need more power, experience and quality and I think getting the likes of Goodman Mosele and Mothobi Mvala solves those problems for us because of their participation in continental competitions.”
In the last four meetings between the two teams, Guinea have the upper hand over South Africa with two wins and two draws. But in the last international friend, Guinea came out victorious after edging Bafana 1-0 at the Atteridgeville Super Stadium on 9 September 2008.
Bafana boss Hugo Broos will be without the services of Percy Tau for the friendly after he was forced to withdraw from the squad after suffering a knee injury, while Royal AM striker Victor Letsoalo has been called up to take his place.
In the opposition dugout, Kaba Diawara looks set to be without midfielder Naby Keita after he picked up a knee injury and forced him to withdraw from the Guinea national team squad.
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Lyle Lakay has been one of the best players in the Mamelodi Sundowns this season with three goals and eight assists for his club thus far and Broos will be hoping his pace, eye for creating and scoring goals as well as his ability from set-pieces can contribute to the team’s success against Guinea.
Guinea will be looking to the likes of Serhou Guirassy, Sory Kaba and Morgan Guilavogui to perform in the final third with the trio already surpassing the 10 goal mark for their respective club, having scored a total of 37 goals between them.