When Bafana Bafana play France on the 29th of March, it will be their first match against European opposition in eight and a half years, and it is something that has concerned coach Hugo Broos.
Bafana have in fact played 93 international matches since they last played a European side. And it was no light-weight opposition because that last match was against then-World champions Spain, when Bafana shocked the 2010 World Cup winners in the 1-0 win, ending a lengthy unbeaten run for the Spanish.
Another good omen for the game against France may be that the last time South Africa played the French, they were also victorious, winning 2-1 at the 2010 World Cup.
Once the darlings of international football, Bafana at one point played regular friendlies against European opposition, however, that shifted in the last decade, and apart from six matches against South American, Central American and Oceania opposition, all other opponents have been from Africa.
Now Bafana will play two fixtures in Europe, first against Guinea in Belgium on the 25th, before the high profile game against France on the 29th.
Bafana coach Hugo Broos has made it clear that he wants high-level friendlies going forward, and it is something he will be pushing.
“What we saw after the qualifiers for the World Cup, we need stronger opponents,” Broos said at the squad annnouncement on SABCSport.
“I’m told that in the past the friendly games, South Africa, were always against teams like Botswana, Mozambique, I’m sorry, no disrespect for Botswana, but you can learn nothing in those games cos you’re the better team and you win and everybody’s happy.
“So now we have two games. World Champion, I don’t have to explain that. Guinea, who played a very good Afcon, very good players, all playing in Europe.
“So it will be a tough game also. And from those games, you can learn a lot, you can learn a lot. And the result is not important if we lose two times, okay.
“But what we see and what we can evaluate after those games is ten times more than if we play against Botswana or whatever. So you see immediately what players are, how good they are, can we use them for the next qualifiers, but then no excuse anymore, we have to go to Ivory Coast next year, this is for sure.
“So we have to be prepared, good prepared, and therefore those games.”