JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters) - Success for South African club Mamelodi Sundowns in the African Champions League final has come as a major boost to the country’s World Cup squad, national team coach Hugo Broos said on Thursday.
Sundowns secured the top club prize on the continent with a 2-1 aggregate win over Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces, drawing away in Sunday’s second leg in Rabat and returning home to tumultuous acclaim.
Eight of the Sundowns players are in the South Africa squad for the World Cup, along with eight players from rivals Orlando Pirates who last Saturday were crowned domestic league champions, pipping Sundowns by a point.
“We can say that we have players of the best teams of the season. Those guys have much experience at a high level,” Broos told a press conference on Thursday, the day after he announced his 26-man selection for next month’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
“I can assure you that Sunday’s game for Sundowns was the most difficult game in years. Not only the quality of the opponent, but mentally too, so that helps a lot when you have those players in your team.
“I'm certainly happy that Sundowns won the Champions League, because I was afraid that if they should lose, I would get players who would be very disappointed. So now they all have that boost of confidence, and that helps a lot.”
South Africa take on co-hosts Mexico in the opening game on June 11 and also face the Czech Republic and South Korea in Group A.
Broos expressed confidence South Africa would make it out of the opening group stage and into the knockout phase for the first time in four tournament appearances.
“For me, the first goal in this group stage is to get, as soon as possible, three points. I'm convinced if we have three points, we go to the next stage, certainly taking into account that in this World Cup, there are eight third-placed finishers who advance from the group stage."
“It was tougher in the past because it was only the top two in the group. But now you have a chance to finish third and still go through," the Belgian-born coach added.
"But if you don't have three points, I think it will not be possible to advance. So for us, it will be very important to have those three points as soon as possible, and again, I'm confident that we can achieve that.”
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Keith Weir)
