AFCON 2025: We don't really focus on one player - Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos

As South Africa prepare for a pivotal 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) showdown with Egypt, head coach Hugo Broos has emphatically dismissed the idea of building his team's strategy around stopping a single opponent, specifically Mohamed Salah.

With both teams entering the Group C encounter with winning momentum, the experienced Belgian tactician outlined a philosophy centred on collective opposition rather than individual obsession. His comments reveal a calculated approach to facing one of the tournament's most formidable attacking units.

"Why should we focus on one player?" Broos questioned in his pre-match briefing. "We have to be prepared to beat the team rather than [seeing to it that] Salah doesn’t play good or [Omar] Marmoush doesn’t play good. No; for us, it’s the team that’s important and we don’t really focus on one player."

This stance is not born of disrespect but of strategic clarity. Broos readily acknowledged the elevated challenge Egypt presents compared to South Africa's previous opponents, Zimbabwe and Angola, labelling the Pharaohs "a team a level higher." However, he countered this acknowledgement with a firm directive to his own squad.

"We don’t have to forget our qualities. We don’t have to forget the way we played in the past," he urged. This suggests South Africa will look to impose their own organised, team-orientated style of play—a system that delivered a 2-1 victory over Angola—rather than radically altering their approach to merely shadow Salah.

Broos's team-first mantra now faces its ultimate test against an Egyptian side synonymous with Salah's individual genius. The result will determine whether South Africa's collective strength can indeed triumph over the singular star power that has long defined their North African rivals.

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