Huo Broos is planning to beat Zimbabwe at FNB Stadium on Thursday night so that his team can go to Cape Coast maximising the pressure on Ghana in Sunday's final group stage 2022 World Cup qualifier.
SA leads Group A with 10 points and is within striking distance of the last round of the playoffs. According to the coach, overcoming Zimbabwe and travelling to Ghana with a lead will be critical for SA to have a genuine chance of qualifying past Ghana.
“It's a different situation to the first two camps we had,” said the 69-year-old Belgian who was appointed in May.
“The first camp [a draw away against Zimbabwe and home win against Ghana] was to know each other better and the next against Ethiopia [back-to-back wins] was successful because we did it in another way.
“Now we face two games that are very important, Uf we win twice we are in the next round.
“But it is simple to say it, it's not so simple to do it. The most important thing is to win against Zimbabwe.
“If we don't we can maybe be one or two points behind [Ghana], and this is not a situation I like. I like to have the same situation after the game against Zimbabwe — one point, maybe two [as a lead].
“And maybe we can even have the best situation where we go to Ghana on a holiday. But we don't think about that at all because I think it will not happen.
“Let's focus on the Zimbabwe game. A tricky game. There are some players who are not there, so I think the coach [Norman Mapeza] chose to prepare for Afcon [2021 Africa Cup of Nations] in January.
“And you know what it means when you give players a chance to prove themselves. That means they will do it.
“We have concentrate and be ready because we have to win it. One point ahead, two points ahead and the pressure stays on Ghana.”