Not too long ago, Bafana Bafana battled to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations – and the Fifa World Cup seldom entered the conversation.
South Africa missed out on the 2017 Afcon in Gabon and 2021 in Cameroon, despite reaching the quarter-finals in Egypt in 2019.
But there has been a turnaround in consistency, performance and squad depth under veteran Belgian coach Hugo Broos – so much so that there were nearly 50,000 people at Tuesday’s final Afcon qualifier against South Sudan at the Cape Town Stadium.
Broos has spread the net wide and selected players from various clubs instead of just the major Gauteng outfits. That has helped to bring in big numbers. No longer do Bafana have to play in front of empty stands.
What made the sell-out crowd on Tuesday even more impressive was the fact that the match was effectively a dead-rubber, as Bafana had already qualified for next year’s tournament in Morocco before last week’s 2-0 win away to Uganda. Yet the South Africans stuck to their task with great vigour to emerge victorious in Kampala, and then followed it up with a display full of verve and skill in the Mother City.
And it’s not as if the football dished up by Broos’s team is a bit of “skop, skiet en donder” long-ball stuff either.
Bafana were slick in their execution against South Sudan, mixing speed and movement with polished defence, and the result was three goals without reply.
Yes, South Sudan are not world-beaters, and due to a lack of funds, they only had 15 players make the trip to Cape Town. But Bafana ended on top of Group K unbeaten, and stretched that run under Broos to a record 19 matches in a row without defeat, having finished third in the Ivory Coast-hosted Afcon earlier this year.
They are also well on track to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup –having last featured as hosts in 2010.
They are second in Group C on seven points, level with log leaders Rwanda with six matches to go, with their next encounter in March against Lesotho.
It has been a long time coming, but Bafana Bafana are buzzing and the pride of Mzansi once more. Long may it continue!
Cape Times