Walid Regragui expects different Bafana Bafana from earlier AFCON qualifier

A year ago, Bafana and the Atlas Lions met while Regragui had just led Wydad Casablanca to CAF Champions League success after beating Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly in the final. 

He joined the national team thereafter and admits that a lot has changed between then and now, and expects a highly motivated Bafana at FNB Stadium this evening.

"I think it's a different game now. That was one year ago, and I've changed a lot of players in my team, and a lot of players [have changed] in Bafana Bafana," said Regragui.

"Now it's two teams that have qualified, so the pressure is not on either team. Bafana has qualified, Morocco has qualified, so I think it's a different spirit on the pitch.

"And I know this team, a lot of players are from Mamelodi Sundowns who want to play good football, it's an offensive squad, so it's a [tough] game for us."

Morocco have brought a star-studded squad with lots of European-based players who played more than 50 matches – including the World Cup, and the 47-year-old tactician admits legs and minds are tired, but the job at hand is to show they are no pushovers after reaching the semi-finals in Qatar – an unprecedented feat for African nations.

"I have a lot of players tired from the [2022/23] season, a lot of them have played more than 50 matches in a season including a World Cup of emotions," he added.

"Everybody now wants to go on holiday, but a job is a job, and you need to do your best for you to keep three points, and you need to show you are a big team in Africa."