2022 World Cup Qualifiers: South Africa won’t underestimate Zimbabwe – Broos

South Africa coach Hugo Broos is anticipating a tough match against Zimbabwe in their 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying opening fixture.

Friday’s encounter in Harare is expected to rekindle the rivalry between both Southern African countries.

The last time they faced off was in 2013 during a friendly outing but Zimbabwe came out victorious with a 2-1 win in Johannesburg.

Meanwhile, Broos believes Bafana Bafana have an away advantage with the game set to be played without fans at the National Sports Stadium.

“Derbies are always tough, for both teams. We’re playing away, though the stands will be empty, which is good for us, as there’s a big difference between playing in front of a crowd in Harare and playing without one. That doesn’t mean to say that we’re going to underestimate our opponents, though,” Broos told Fifa’s website.

“I’ve seen Zimbabwe’s games in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, against Algeria, for example. They’re a strong side and it’s not going to be easy, but we’ll just try to focus on what we can do.”

South Africa also have Ghana and Ethiopia to compete against for the sole ticket in Group H to the final qualifying stage but the former Cameroon handler considers the Walia ibex as the surprise package in the group.

Bafana Bafana last featured at the World Cup in 2010 when they hosted the tournament but they did not go beyond the group stage.

“We’re coming up against teams who’ve all qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations [to be held in Cameroon in January/February 2022], so they’re all strong,” he added.

“Ghana are Cup of Nations regulars and they’ve reached a lot of World Cups lately. I’ve had a good look at Zimbabwe and Ethiopia too and they seem to have a lot of potential.

"Zimbabwe are neighbours of ours and there’s no doubt they’ll be keen to beat us. Ethiopia could be the surprise package of the group. They’re strong at home, in front of their own fans.

“We wouldn’t be athletes if we didn’t have the aim of reaching the World Cup. We want to go through, even though we’re in tough group and up against teams who are at their peak, while we’re at the start of a rebuilding process. We’ll fight, though, and do what we can to qualify.

“All the same, African qualifying competitions are very challenging. First you’ve got to win your group and then you’ve got to win a play-off tie, which means that five of the group winners won’t make it to the world finals. That just shows how tough these qualifiers are.”