Hugo Broos eyes Belgium clash after Safa's financial woes derail Argentina friendly

Bafana Bafana could have played the current FIFA World Cup champions, Argentina, in preparation for next year’s global showpiece. However, such are the struggles of Safa that Hugo Broos might have to settle for facing his native country, Belgium.

When Bafana qualified for the global showpiece, they cemented their place as one of the top nations on the continent. This comes after also qualifying for the upcoming AFCON, which will be held in Morocco next month, without much difficulty as they finished top of their group comfortably.

In their search for stronger opponents to better prepare for the World Cup, Bafana secured a potential deal with Argentina which is captained by, arguably, the best player in the world, Lionel Messi.

The Argentines were ready to bring the match to South Africa, almost recreating the time when CAF president and Mamelodi Sundowns boss, Patrice Motsepe, brought Barcelona - a team that included Messi - to play the Brazilians in a friendly match on home soil a few years ago.

But, as is often the case with Safa, financial issues got in the way. This therefore Messi never play on South African soil again, as he did first with his country after at the 2010 World Cup.

It wouldn’t have been the first time Broos’ team faced the world champions, as they previously played against 2018 winners France away from home.

Broos, however, understands why a friendly against the current world champions isn’t possible. It would come at a huge cost for the already cash-strapped association.

“I want to tell you something,” Broos revealed. “In March, we asked to play against Argentina, the world champions. For them, it’s millions; for us, that’s billions of rands.

“You can’t afford that. Maybe if you play in front of a full stadium, it could help, but it’s still a lot of money. And we are not rich.”

Broos, though, is clearly a man with a plan. Using his connections in Belgium, he has approached his home federation to host Bafana, which would significantly cut costs.

He’s well aware that it’s more practical for Bafana to travel to Europe than for Belgium to come here.

“Probably we will play in June against Belgium - maybe - we will see. We are talking,” Broos said. “So before we go to America, it should be a very good game. But we are working on it.

“Even in March, we are working on it. We need games. It’s not easy to find them. The challenge for South Africa is that when a European or South American team has to travel far, it becomes disadvantageous for us, and we are not a rich federation.”

The World Cup build-up is just one part of the plan. Before that, Bafana must prepare for a friendly against Zambia as part of their AFCON preparations in Morocco next month.

Broos is pleased to be facing their COSAFA rivals, though he revealed that they had initially invited Benni McCarthy’s Kenya - who declined. As it stands, Broos will announce his AFCON squad after the friendly in Gqeberha on Saturday.

“Every opponent that plays against South Africa now is motivated,” Broos said. “So, I think it will be a tough game. They are playing for nothing, so they won’t be nervous - they’ll just try to put on a good performance.

“So, I am happy that we’ll be playing against them. For us, we are hopeful that it will be a good game.”