Hugo Broos stresses importance of Bafana Bafana's CAF ranking

Bafana returned to a celebratory mood following their third-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire last month, and find themselves back in action just a few weeks later against two somewhat mundane friendlies in North Africa.

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They perhaps won't count for any silverware or direct tournament qualification, but, at least for Broos, these two encounters carry particular significance as he looks to further improve his side's 10th-place standing in the latest FIFA-CAF rankings.

''It is very important to grow from what we achieved at Afcon, it is not enough to be 3rd place and be at number 10, with good results we can move higher in the rankings,'' said Broos.

The rankings will ultimately be used to determine seeded and unseeded teams ahead of the draw for AFCON 2025, which is set to be hosted in Morocco next year.

Broos outlines the need to do well even in these two friendly matches, so as to maintain or even climb higher than 58th in the world.

''Friendly games are becoming very important, we will try to get some points in the two matches to have a better position in the CAF rankings,'' added Broos.

Moreover, the Belgian tactician is hoping the team can build on the momentum from AFCON 2023, with several new faces also getting a look-in during the current camp.

''First of all I hope we can continue from what we managed to achieve at Afcon, we saw what South Africa can do, we have a good team,'' he concluded.

First up for Bafana will be 164th-ranked European nation Andorra, who they face in Annaba, Algeria at 23h00 this evening – LIVE on SABC Sport, and Broos will be using this match to assess the new players ahead of next Tuesday's fixture against the more formidable, 43rd-ranked Algeria.