South Africa coach, Hugo Broos, has vowed to show “no mercy” when his side faces Cameroon in the last 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
Bafana Bafana will take on the Indomitable Lions at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, in what promises to be a tense encounter.
Broos, who led Cameroon to an unlikely AFCON title in 2017, admitted the match would be emotional but insisted his loyalty now lies fully with South Africa.
“Tomorrow’s game is surely a special game for me. If you win an AFCON with a country, then a part of them stays in your heart, but tomorrow I can’t have mercy for them because I am the coach of South Africa now and I want to win the game,” he told reporters on Saturday.
The Belgian coach described Cameroon as a strong and determined side, warning that his players must be at their best to progress.
“They are a very good team, a young team, and they have a good fighting spirit and mentality, which means if we want to beat them, we will have to be at our best,” he said.
Cameroon finished the group stage with seven points despite a turbulent build-up to the tournament, which saw coach Marc Brys dismissed weeks before kickoff and replaced by David Pagou.
Broos admitted he had been impressed by how the team coped with the changes.
“I would have preferred to face Cameroon in the final – maybe now is a little too soon,” he said.
“I was curious to see Cameroon with all the changes in their team, and I have been surprised. They did not have much preparation time, but the coach has done a good job, and for us it will be a difficult match.”
Reiterating his determination, Broos added, “No mercy tomorrow! You can be sure. I have to win that game; that is all that counts.”
Meanwhile, the 73-year-old coach expressed displeasure with the Confederation of African Football over training arrangements, revealing that his team had to travel 45 minutes from their hotel in Rabat to train at the Moroccan national team’s facility.
“I don’t understand why CAF allowed that. I have to say that because it makes me unhappy,” he complained.
The winner of the tie will face hosts Morocco in the quarter-finals if they overcome Tanzania.
South Africa, who have already qualified for the World Cup, are aiming to at least match their semi-final finish at the 2024 AFCON in Ivory Coast.
However, Broos admitted the task would be tougher this time due to the quality of teams still in the competition.
“It was the ambition when we came here to do at least as well as two years ago, but I said this tournament would be much more difficult.
“At the last AFCON, a lot of big teams were knocked out early, but this time they are all here, which means to get to the final, even the semi-finals, it will be much more difficult, but our ambition remains intact,” he said.
