Hugo Broos excited as South Africa aims for AFCON glory

IT WOULD be stretching it a little to suggest Hugo Broos resembled a kid in a sweetshop as he anticipated the start of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Yet for a coach going into his third tournament, the old man’s excitement was palpable. And that’s a good thing as South Africa seek to win only their second title in three decades.

There was no air of ‘been there, done that’ - as would have been the case with some coaches - as the Belgian coach of Bafana Bafana addressed the media ahead of their Group B opener against Angola in Marrakech tonight (7pm kick-off). Instead, there was a glint in the septuagenarian’s eye as he reflected on his previous two experiences which yielded medals.

A winner with Cameroon back in 2017 and a bronze medalist with South Africa two years ago, Broos still exuded the excitement of a rookie at the biennial, continental showpiece. Transfer some of that excitement to his team and Bafana could well return home champions, his refusal to accept the ‘favourites’ tag notwithstanding.

“For every player and every coach, it is something you dream of, to play big tournaments like AFCON. You are super motivated to qualify for such tournaments. My biggest experience in this AFCON is that it is so intense; the matches are so intense. All countries want to prove themselves to the world. There is a lot of interest, something that when you are a sportsman you like to play on that level, to be on the pitch,” the man who also played in the 1986 FIFA World Cup beamed.

“In the previous tournament (hosted by Ivory Coast), the atmosphere was great. It was nice. Something you always dream to be a part of. It makes you happy. It made me happy. I’d won with Cameroon and then with South Africa two years ago (we got bronze). I’m happy that we qualified for a tournament like this.”

What would make Broos even happy is if he won yet another medal, a gold one at that. It is what South Africa expects of a coach they’ve come to love so much after he turned their national team’s fortunes around to such great heights that they now are among the favourites for the title.

Not that Broos agrees with the billing: “I will not tell you that South Africa is favourites. For me, I think Morocco is the favourite. They are a very good team and they are playing at home. For the rest, it will be a challenge. We will see after the group stages. Then maybe we can change our opinion. But for the moment you will not hear me say South Africa is the favourite.”

The silver-haired coach who will be retiring from the game post the 2026 FIFA World Cup for which he earned South Africa qualification anticipates a pretty tough tournament.

“It will be very tough to win this AFCON. It will be tougher than the one in Ivory Coast because I don’t think the big countries will make the same mistakes like they did in Ivory Coast. Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana and Morocco were knocked out early. They learnt their lesson in the last AFCON. Normally all the big teams will be there after the group stages.”

And he expects that to be the case this time around, with his South Africa among them of course.

To realize that objective they have to start well on Monday against an Angola Broos clearly respects: “We are very happy that we can start this tournament and play our first game. We all know that we will face a tough opponent (Angola), but I think that my team is ready.” 

“It is very important we win that first game. I think you make a big step for qualification for later or to survive the group stages. So again, we will try to win it and to put ourselves in a good position for the second game against Egypt.”

Bafana have played against Angola in the group stages on four occasions at the AFCON and are yet to lose. Twice they were winners, on both occasions when the tournament was played in South Africa – 1-0 in 1996 and 2-0 in 2013. The other two matches were stalemates, a goalless draw at Burkina Faso 1998 and 1-1 in Ghana ten years later.

Such is Broos’ experience and respect of the game and opponents he is not reading too much to Bafana’s unbeaten record against the Palancas Negras.

The encounter will see him in charge for a milestone and record-extending 50th match in Bafana's bench but he was not even making the match about himself – although his delight at being at yet another AFCON was unmistakable.