Hugo Broos commits to Bafana amid reports of Tunisia, Algeria interest

Amid reports of his prowess being sought by rival teams after steering South Africa to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) bronze medal, Hugo Broos has committed his future to Bafana Bafana. 

Broos, 71,  has increased his stocks on the continent after he led the world 66th and African 12th-ranked South African underdogs to a third-place finish with a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory over Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday night. The match at Stade Félix-Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast went straight to a shoot-out after full time ended deadlocked at 0-0. 

The achievement follows Broos winning the 2017 Nations Cup with a young Cameroon.

Broos has been linked to the vacant national coaching jobs for Tunisia, who Bafana drew against in the group stage, and Algeria.

Speaking after the bronze medal win, Broos, who has almost two-and-a-half years remaining on his contract (until June 2026) with the South African Football Association, said he is happy in his job and the only way he will leave is if he is fired. 

“It is normal when you have good results in a tournament that there is interest from other teams for players it is clubs and for a national coach it is other countries,” he said. 

“I had also that experience when I won this tournament with Cameroon but most of the time it is all rumours. People will always say something to link you with other countries after a good tournament but I can tell you today there is really nothing.

“You told me there are some people who are coming to me with this and that but if Hugo Broos is going to leave South Africa, then it will be because Safa decides that I must leave and that’s all. 

“I am happy with my job, I am happy with the team we have built. I am not always happy with the media but it is OK and we will see what happens. From now on, I hope people will support this team.” 

While there is a feel-good factor about South Africa’s third place at Afcon, Broos cautioned there is much work to be done as the World Cup qualifiers resume with a clash against Nigeria, who beat Bafana on penalties in the Nations Cup semifinals, in June. 

“When I was with Cameroon I didn't know what Afcon was, but I learnt a lot from that experience. I knew that it was an important championship for Africa, I knew the teams but I didn't know how hard the games were. 

“My surprise at the beginning when we were at Afcon in Gabon was the intensity of the games because every team is playing for its life. In this Afcon, you saw little teams made a lot of progress and they eliminated the big ones. 

“This was a good experience for me with Cameroon and when I came to South Africa we tried to qualify for Afcon. In the past months, we looked for players who could play a direct game and sometimes with a little bit of power and vertical passes. 

“I think we found them and now with this third place we don't have to think that everything is OK because there is still a lot of work to do. But the basics are there. Everyone knows now what is expected from them when they play for the national team. 

“The basics and players are there, we are two steps from where we were two years ago and this is important.”