Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is happy with the preparations for his side ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast.

How have the squad been in training since you started camp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast?
I feared a little bit that we would have the same thing as in November, a team that was exhausted, mentally and physically. (Luckily) it’s not the same, but still we have to take care that we are not doing too much, certainly not with this (heat). And the four days the guys had off is good, but not enough, that’s for sure. And I said that already last year in May, in my letter to PSL, but you know the story. For them, there are other things that are more important than the national team. And I can understand that. But in December, they answered to my request in a letter and started it with, ‘we support Bafana Bafana and the coach’ … I had to laugh. Because if you do, then you stop the (DStv Premiership) on December 24. But we will adapt and see that the guys will be fresh when we play our first game.

You play Lesotho in a warm-up game on Wednesday. Is that enough preparation ahead of the finals?
it was not easy to find opponents, that would come to South Africa. When you go more north, you’re closer to Ivory Coast and then it’s easier to find teams to play. We talked about it, but it was a matter of budget, because we thought at a certain moment to go to Cameroon (and prepare there). So we had to look at teams who wanted to play against us and Lesotho came. I think it’s not a bad opponent. I’m happy with it. We will try to play a good game but honestly for me, the result is not important.

You won the Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2017. Can you draw from that experience seven years ago to help you in this campaign, or is this a blank slate and a fresh start?
It’s not a complete blank slate. It’s not easy to take everything from 2017 and say, this is what you must do and how things will go. But certainly, for me as a European, it was a very good experience to be there and to train an African team. You know, the culture … because in the beginning I had big problems there because I had a European mentality so I had to adapt to the African (way). Not with the players, but I had problems with some people because I’m rather straight in (the way I talk) and they don’t like it. But it was a very good experience to know what I have to do now.

The Cup of Nations is a unique tournament in terms of the challenges on and off the pitch. Having experienced it before must be a bonus …
It’s totally different, really, totally different than Europe. For me, it was a fantastic experience because of how intense the tournament is. All those teams there are 500% motivated. And therefore, the group stages, when you compare, are maybe the most difficult to pass through because even the weakest team in your group can win because they’re so motivated. Everybody wants to show something. And that is certainly something I will talk about to the players about, what’s coming. It’s really tough. But on the other side, I believe in the players who are here, I know their qualities. And they showed that already against Morocco and the game in the Ivory Coast. That was the deadly South Africa, so let’s hope we can achieve that level again. We are with Mali, Tunisia and Namibia. And don’t underestimate Namibia. It’s not the biggest team in Africa, but it’s a difficult one. But if we have our level that we showed in the past, then it’s possible to go through the group stages.

This is your first tournament with Bafana Bafana. Are you enjoying being able to spend so much time with the players?
It’s totally different (to FIFA windows), but I enjoy that. Because now you’re working every day with them. And you know what you’re working towards. You know what is coming, so you can work towards that moment, to those games. I enjoy more things like that, than when every month you have a game or qualification (match) and then they are gone. So yeah, I enjoyed this, what I’m doing now,

You must be relieved that the players have signed their agreement with SAFA over bonusses, one less thing to worry about?
Two or three months ago, everybody was worried about the issue of bonusses. But in my experience, this is normal and happens all the time. It is an issue in that the one who has to give (the money) wants to give as little as possible, and the one who receives it wants to have as much as possible. But in the end, there is always in agreement. At one stage it was a little bit annoying. Players were not happy because they were not paid. And I understand that. But I told them also, you can do only one thing. That is put in performances, then you go on the bargaining table and you are the strongest party. And they did it, they did what they had to do. It’s not only in national teams. I had the same experience when I was coach and a player for the clubs, where this this is normal.