Cape Town — For Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, Tuesday's game against World Cup champions France in Lille, will it be a case of different strokes for different folks.
After Friday's goalless draw, Broos was pleased with the team's overall performance, but he plans to make a difference with the team that will run out at 50,000-seater Stade Pierre-Mauroy, which has sported 'full house' signs several days ago.
“For France, there will be a different team. It may not be 11 different players, but it will be a different team," said Broos. "As I pointed out before this tour, I will give all players some minutes and we started that already against Guinea on Friday.
“Against France maybe a little bit less changes because the opponent is much stronger. Also, there will be new players again like (Nyiko) Mobbie ad Lyle Lakay. They will play against France because I want to give them a chance to show their qualities.
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“What I saw in the game against Guinea was that they (the players in the team) gave us what we would have liked to see from them.
“They are also good within the group, and their mentality is very good. It did not seem like they are here for the first time with me in this team.”
A sore point in Friday's friendly against Guinea was the inability to score goals despite several gilt-edged opportunities. Broos said he did not have the solution to the problem.
‘“It’s difficult on how you fix that problem of not scoring goals," said Broos. "On the day it is up to the players. I would say they just need the confidence to lead the attack as strikers.
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“I do not want to talk too much about that, otherwise, it will hurt because we did not score.
"I did mention it certainly after that game and that’s all there is to that. The team knows it as well that with the chances we had, we should have scored.
“We need a game in which strikers will score and then it will be okay. Now it’s a little problem.”
Broos said the players were feeling less pressure because it was a friendly. He said the players felt more pressure when playing qualifiers.
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“Now, for the players, they are more comfortable than when playing qualifiers," said Broos. "We have to learn that where there are qualifiers, there is pressure. We must also learn that we must perform then.
"It is normal if you play a qualifier or a friendly game like now it's always different. Players don't feel the pressure.
“It is normal, and that’s why in the pre-match meeting of the Guinea game, I told them okay, it’s a friendly game but I don’t want us to see it as a friendly game. We didn’t see it as a friendly game. The approach is different.
“For me, I know it is a friendly game, but we need results and we need a good game."
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Meanwhile, French coach Didier Deschamps has confirmed that kingpin Kylian Mbappe is fit to face Bafana Bafana.
Mbappe, one of the world's foremost players, passed a fitness test on Sunday. He missed Friday's game against Ivory Coast after suffering an ENT infection.
Mbappe has been in fine form for club and country this season, with 26 goals and 17 assists in 37 appearances.
IOL Sport