Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos believes his side are heading into their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations clash with Morocco with the “right mentality and confidence” as they look for a positive result in their Group K opener.

The South African national team are set to open their group-stage account when they take on Morocco at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah in Rabat on Thursday evening.

Bafana has been drawn in Group K, which includes Liberia. The fourth team, Zimbabwe, are suspended from international tournaments and won’t participate in the qualifiers.

Broos believes that their upcoming fixture and the result will give him a good account of his players, with the younger players also afforded much-needed game time on the national stage.

“I said already before the qualifiers for the World Cup that if we don’t qualify for that event, it will be a very good experience for those young players. We had players who played their first Bafana Bafana games. Now they’ve had the opportunity to play six games. They learned a lot from that. You have to start somewhere,” Broos told SuperSport.com.

“We know the players and the team [Morocco] very well. But they are still a good team, although we have a plan. We will see if that plan will succeed come [Thursday, 9 June].

“We know what we have to do. And one thing that is important is to have the [right] mentality and confidence. When you go to Morocco with fear it is better that you stay right here at home.”