Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos believes Morocco are the team to beat in Group K following the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations group-stage qualifying draw on Tuesday evening.

South Africa were pitted against Morocco, neighbours Zimbabwe and Liberia in Group K following the conclusion of the draw in Randburg.

The group-stage qualifiers are scheduled to kick off in June this year as South Africa look to book their place in the Afcon, which takes place in Ivory Coast in 2023.

Bross has opened up about his own ambitions for the group stages, knowing that beating Morocco will better their chances of qualifying for the African tournament.

“It is clear that Morocco is the best team in our group. They were in the Afcon in January, they were eliminated by Egypt and they are a very good team,” Broos told www.safa.net.

“Maybe Morocco are the best of our group.

“I know this team very well. So, I think if we want to be first in our group, we have to beat Morocco. On the other side, there is Zimbabwe.

“We played against Zimbabwe during the qualifiers for the World Cup. We know them very well, we played two times against them last year [Bafana won 1-0 at home and drew 0-0 away], so they are a tough team. But, this is a team we have to beat [if we are to qualify].

“We are better than we were a few months ago. So, I think if we can beat them twice it will be [a] very good [outcome] for us. Liberia for me are a team I don’t know [at the moment], I don’t know the players, so it is up to us in the coming weeks to look at their games.

“Maybe Liberia are [on paper] the weakest team in the group. But it is always dangerous to underestimate an opponent. So, for that, first of all we are going to look at their games, their last few games, see how good they are. So, if we look at this group, first of all Morocco are the best team, Zimbabwe our neighbours, very tough games [against them], and Liberia normally are the weakest team.”

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