Take a bow Bafana Bafana, take a bow coach Hugo Broos.
When the 72-year-old Belgian arrived to take the post at Bafana in May 2021, there were plenty of misgivings.
Broos had won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with a young Cameroon that had been abandoned by many big-name stars.
The South African Football Association (Safa) wanted him to do something similar, rebuilding (for the umpteenth time) a woefully underachieving Bafana, though this youth emphasis seemed to have hints of a desperate rescue mission given Safa’s poor development efforts of many years.
Post-Covid-19, predecessor Molefi Ntseki had overseen a fourth failure to qualify for an Afcon ― for Cameroon 2021 ― in the last seven tournaments.
There had been signs of life, with qualifications under Shakes Mashaba in 2015 and Stuart Baxter in 2019, where Bafana beat hosts Egypt to reach the quarterfinals, but these proved false dawns of any genuine revival.
Four years later, Broos has transformed the beleaguered national team, culminating in Tuesday’s 2-1 win against Rwanda that secured a first World Cup qualification other than as hosts (2010) in 23 years, since 2002 in Korea and Japan.
Fifa’s award of a 3-0 win to Lesotho in that game makes Bafana’s feat more impressive. It also serves as a reminder that all is not a bed of roses at Safa, where far too many administrative and financial deficiencies pervade.
He arrived with questions about his temperament amid whisperings he had alienated senior players in Cameroon. His outspokenness and determination to even sideline Bafana’s best creative star, Themba Zwane, based on age, rankled a few early on.
Yet Broos’ pedigree from being one of Belgium’s top defenders in the 1970s and 1980s and a multiple trophy-winning coach with Club Brugge has shone through. His return to North America for this World Cup completes a circle, having played at Mexico 1986 for his country’s famous semifinalists.
His excellent player management and respectful approach shows in the love and dedication his players display for their coach, which he returns to them. Perhaps for the first time since the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bafana are playing for the badge again.
Broos’ youth policy brought instant promise, Bafana failing to reach the final round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup by goals scored and a dodgy penalty call to Ghana.
A long unbeaten run followed in which Bafana ― the core of which is made up of players from continental force Mamelodi Sundowns ― grew in confidence. They earned their best Afcon finish in 24 years ― third ― in Ivory Coast last year, shocking 2022 World Cup semifinalists Morocco in the last 16 and bowing out on penalties to nemesis Nigeria in the semifinals.
Bafana did not rest on their laurels and kept winning in the 2025 Afcon and 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
That they needed Nigeria to beat then-leaders Benin in Uyo (4-0) on Tuesday to progress to next year’s World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the US was only down to having three points docked last month for fielding suspended Teboho Mokoena in a win against Lesotho in March.
Fifa’s award of a 3-0 win to Lesotho in that game makes Bafana’s feat more impressive. It also serves as a reminder that all is not a bed of roses at Safa, where far too many administrative and financial deficiencies pervade.
Broos’ successful youth policy also arrived in a period when Premier Soccer League clubs’ development programmes have improved and a better class of well-coached young player has emerged, with more opportunities for them since the launch of the DStv Diski Challenge under-23 league.
A sign of the huge improvement in emerging talent is that the South African under-17s qualified for their World Cup this year and Amajita became the first South African winners of the U-20 Afcon and only the second to reach the U-20 World Cup last 16 this month.
Finally, the future is bright again for Bafana. Broos’ revival can now be confirmed as real. The culmination of it may come with some form of Afcon glory in Morocco in December and January and perhaps a good showing at the World Cup, after which the Belgian affectionately nicknamed “Hugo Boss” or “Rick Flair” by this country’s fans will bow out of coaching.
For now, he can take a bow for getting Bafana there.
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