Broos determined that Bafana should qualify in pole position

Bafana Bafana celebrated their qualification for the African Cup of Nations in Morocco next year in style, by beating Uganda 2-0 in Kampala on Friday.

Coach Hugo Broos’s boys already qualified for the southern hemisphere showpiece the day before the match, when South Sudan surprised everyone under the sun by beating Congo 3-2 in their Group K qualifier.

The result meant the third-placed Congo could no longer catch South Africa in second.

And with the pressure off, having already qualified, Bafana Bafana subsequently took top spot by beating log leaders Uganda thanks to second half strikes from Thapelo Morena and Patrick Maswanganyi.

With one game to play in the group – against South Sudan in Cape Town on Tuesday night – Broos wants to finish at the top of the standings. Even if it’s just to shut up the critics.

The coach explains: “Let’s say we win on Tuesday, I think we will have 14 points and that’s a lot.

“There were some games where we could have won, especially at home against Uganda ...

“It was very important for us to win here and to be first in the group. Nobody can say we are lucky, like they did after the defeat of Congo by South Sudan.

“I think we proved that we don’t need luck and that we can win games and, if we get 14 points by winning on Tuesday, that we are deserved of qualifying for Afcon.”

Bafana join the likes of Tunisia, Comoros, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Zambia, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Mali, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Senegal and Burkina Faso – all of who who qualified with one league game to spare.