Now Broos and his weary band of Bafana warriors want to win the fans back

After an exhausting journey of more than 12 hours from Abidjan, the Bafana Bafana players and head coach Hugo Broos still had some reserved energy to engage with exuberant fans welcoming the squad back at OR Tambo International Airport early on Wednesday morning.

Bafana arrived from Ivory Coast amid rare celebrations for the long-ailing national team after their unexpected exploits at the Africa Cup of Nations, where they finished third behind new champions and hosts Ivory Coast and runners-up Nigeria.   

Before the tournament their record in the past 24 years had been terrible with only the 2013 and 2019 tournament being an exception for the 1996 champions as they managed to at least bow out in the last eight. There were even four tournaments (2010, 2012, 2017 and 2021) that Bafana failed to qualify for. 

It was against that backdrop that few dreamt of Broos’s team doing any better in West Africa, let alone emerging second in a group that had Tunisia and Mali, both ranked higher than Bafana. 

Broos’s team’s biggest turning point was their 2-0 victory over Africa’s top-ranked team and the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists, Morocco, in the last 16. After that win Broos said he gained more faith in his team going all the way to the final.

“Before the game [against Morocco] I was asking my staff how we were going to beat that team,” the coach said. “But we did it again [Bafana also beat Morocco 2-1 in an Afcon qualifier in Johannesburg last year].

“I think from that moment the confidence in the group was so big that we dreamt about the final. We were very, very close to that final, and we were very disappointed after the game [semifinal] against Nigeria.

“I saw a team that was really exhausted [in the third-place playoff] against Democratic Republic of the Congo and we fought for it for 90 minutes. I’m very proud to see how the guys worked in the past five weeks to achieve only one dream and that is doing very well in this Afcon. 

“After the first result [a 2-0 defeat to Mali], the message [to the players] was, ‘It’s a big disappointment, but be confident because we played a very good game. We were a bit unlucky and made some mistakes, and we showed it to them [in the video analysis] the next day. I was really not angry because I saw that this team could do better from the level we had against Mali — we had the best chances in the first half.

“The confidence was there and I tried to pass it on to the players and I think they received it well because you saw in the next game against Namibia how we crushed them [4-0]. We went on to beat Morocco and so on and so on. The players needed to know they have the quality, and they needed a coach who could give them that confidence.”

Bafana skipper Ronwen Williams insisted the spirit of ubuntu carried the world 66th-ranked and African 12th-ranked South Africans to the last four, especially after they lost their opening match against Mali.

“It still feels unreal what we’ve achieved,” said the Mamelodi Sundowns gloveman who won the Afcon’s Best Goalkeeper award.

“I’m just proud of the boys for the brotherhood we had from day one; the spirit of ubuntu among us has been good and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been successful. It’s the spirit of group, the togetherness. It’s been amazing to see.

“They [the players] made things so easy for me as the captain. When we lost to Mali no-one’s head dropped. You could see in the change room that we were sad, but after that the guys said we can still go out and go to the final.

“The talk was that we could do it even though we lost. It just shows the resilience, the mentality we have got now as a team. We just need to keep going and fight as a team. We’ve got a good thing going now, but we need to take it a step further and continue grinding.”

Williams is confident the performance Bafana dished up in Ivory Coast will bring the fans back to Bafana matches, something the team has been struggling with since the country hosted the Fifa World Cup in 2010. 

“The coach emphasised that the support will come with the performances,” said Williams. “For years, yes, we’ve done well, but it was in patches. But I think in the last two years we’ve only lost three games, so there was some good work the coach was doing and a lot of positives. But the support was still not there, and it had to take something special to have the people back.

“I’m happy we’ve managed to do that. We appreciate the support we’ve received and long may that continue.”           

Broos, who won the Afcon with Cameroon in 2017, highlighted the role played by his support staff behind the scenes.

“When you achieve something like this — third place — people talk about the coach and the players but never about all those other people that work day and night for four to five weeks.

“Think now of the medical staff. Those people were working until 12am or 1am in the morning to get the players in good shape again, giving massages and treatment. They were always there for the players. Without them we wouldn’t have achieved what we did. Even the kit manager, the security manager and you, Romy [Titus, Bafana’s media officer], you were part of what we did there.”

It all started when Broos arrived with Bafana in Ivory Coast on January 10. The coach said he told everyone about the importance of working as a team.

“I remember the first day at the camp I asked them to want one thing: that everybody works for the good of the team. They did it and I think that is one of the reason we achieved the fantastic third place. I’m a happy coach and a proud coach and I thank everybody for that.”