Wydad Athletic Club head coach Sven Vandenbroeck has insisted he has not made any contact with his “good friend” Hugo Broos ahead of his side’s CAF Champions League semi-final second leg against Mamelodi Sundowns.
Vandenbroeck worked as assistant to Broos during his time with the Cameroon nation team and won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations together.
There paths have since split, with Broos being in charge of South Africa, while Vandenbroeck had stints with Zambia, Simba SC and AS FAR before taking over Wydad ahead of the semi-final first leg against Masandawana.
Ahead of Saturday’s second leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, the Belgian tactician was asked whether he made contact with his countryman, Bafana Bafana coach Broos.
“I didn’t speak with him,” he explained.
“You know we’re good friends, we worked together in Cameroon.
“But to avoid these things, because I know how dangerous this is, I’m sure if I say yes on that question he will be criticised because [it will be seen as if] he will help me.
“But I actually didn’t speak to him. He didn’t even come to the hotel to avoid such things.
“I don’t want to put him in trouble, so I stayed away from him.
“Maybe after the game I will call him or he will call me to give his opinion, but nothing before the game, so that’s a NO.”
Vandenbroeck also opened up on how he will approach the tie against the DStv Premiership champions.
“Not only here [at Loftus] did they have good scores, because they scored in every game, also away, they put four in Algeria against CR Belouizdad, they scored two past Al Ahly [in Cairo] if you watched the first leg, you saw we didn’t open the doors behind,” he said when asked by iDiski Times if they will try and go toe-to-toe with Sundowns.
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“Sundowns want to control the middle of the pitch, so even tomorrow we will not play a very offensive game, but a balanced game. I don’t want to withdraw into our own half, because you have to find some escapes as well, to go forward, to go out of your own half.
“But for sure, we will not play with four strikers and open the doors at the back, I think that’s a good analysis you made, I don’t think you have to have good football knowledge to understand that part of the game.”
