Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will use their two international friendly matches against Namibia and DR Congo to asses his players ahead of the African Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire next year.

South Africa are gearing up to take on Namibia in an international friendly match set to be played at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Bafana comes into this fixture on a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions, having claimed five wins and two draws, respectively.

Broos admits that his side’s mentality has changed from the previous year but is going to monitor their progress in these two friendlies.

“It’s okay that we have some injuries, but not ideal. We have depth and opportunity to give chances to those players who might add something new and different,” Broos said.

“Winning is good, but what I want to see is what we can do, how we play, what we can produce and so for me to assess and see performance matters the most. We have good competition in neighbours Namibia and DR Congo with different styles of play – they play well but how will we play and how we will approach the game is really what I want to see.

“Mentally there’s been a big shift from a year ago. The mentality has shifted, and players know what is expected here in the national team. There was a hunger to be at AFCON. The mental aspect is very important, I almost think that if we replay our previous games that our result will be different due to the strong mental aspect we now have.”

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