After turning around Bafana Bafana fortunes, the challenge that faces Hugo Broos for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations has been revealed.
Bafana were a surprise package at the previous AFCON in January 2024, after they won a bronze medal for the first time in 24 years.
Broos' charges booked their spot in the upcoming continental tournament in Morocco, after qualifying with an unbeaten record.
Prior to the start of the AFCON tournament in Ivory Coast, South Africa were underrated and underestimated, given that most players in the squad were playing locally.
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However, Bafana showed bravery in the way they played, keeping possession and going toe to toe with established side such as Morocco, who they eliminated 2-0 in the round of 16.
South African coach Darian Wilken, who spent the 2023/24 season in Morocco as assistant coach at Raja Casablanca, has suggested that teams could now start to employ defensive tactics against Bafana at the 2025 AFCON and that would be a challenge facing the Belgian.
"We saw in the previous competition how effective the team can be, how resolute they can be, one of the main components of the new look Bafana. We're physical, we're energetic. I think with a couple of players coming through, especially young players, really exciting," Wilken said on Mike Morton Talks Football YouTube Channel.
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"Maybe the difference we'll have now is, previously you enter the competition as a dark horse, as an unknown and maybe now there'll be some adjustments from the opposition, where maybe before they thought they can dominate us, them having possession and overloading us.
"And now it could be low blocks, how do we adjust to be the initiater in games that might happen and that could be the preparations going into the tournament, are we able to be the initiaters of the game? It would be interesting how we manage that," Wilken added.
However, pressure on Broos will be high when the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers resume in March next year.
