All Article Properties:
{
"access_control": false,
"status": "publish",
"objectType": "Article",
"id": "2546547",
"signature": "Article:2546547",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-14-bafanas-future-looking-bright-as-sa-clubs-shine-in-africa-fuelling-world-cup-aspirations/",
"shorturl": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2546547",
"slug": "bafanas-future-looking-bright-as-sa-clubs-shine-in-africa-fuelling-world-cup-aspirations",
"contentType": {
"id": "1",
"name": "Article",
"slug": "article"
},
"views": 0,
"comments": 0,
"preview_limit": null,
"excludedFromGoogleSearchEngine": 0,
"title": "Bafana’s future looking bright as SA clubs shine in Africa, fuelling World Cup aspirations",
"firstPublished": "2025-01-14 14:15:47",
"lastUpdate": "2025-01-14 14:15:51",
"categories": [
{
"id": "29",
"name": "South Africa",
"signature": "Category:29",
"slug": "south-africa",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/south-africa/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "Daily Maverick is an independent online news publication and weekly print newspaper in South Africa.\r\n\r\nIt is known for breaking some of the defining stories of South Africa in the past decade, including the Marikana Massacre, in which the South African Police Service killed 34 miners in August 2012.\r\n\r\nIt also investigated the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.\r\n\r\nThat investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, co-founder and editor-in-chief Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award, recognised for initiating the investigative collaboration after receiving the hard drive that included the email tranche.\r\n\r\nIn 2021, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.\r\n\r\nDaily Maverick covers the latest political and news developments in South Africa with breaking news updates, analysis, opinions and more.",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
},
{
"id": "30",
"name": "Sport",
"signature": "Category:30",
"slug": "sport",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/sport/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
}
],
"content_length": 4126,
"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bafana Bafana are poised for their most significant year in some time. The senior men’s team is targeting Fifa World Cup qualification, as well as building on their bronze medal-winning displays at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, national team head coach Hugo Broos will be pleased with what he has seen from South Africa’s representatives in the two Confederation of African Football (CAF) club competitions so far this season. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns are flying the South African flag in the Champions League, while Stellenbosch have made a memorable debut in the auxiliary Confederation Cup. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Buccaneers last played in the Champions League group stage in 2018, but none of this rustiness has been visible so far this season. This is despite Pirates being drawn in a tough group alongside record African champions Al Ahly and Algerian heavyweights CR Belouizdad, as well as Ivorian outfit Stade d’Abidjan. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Buccaneers have navigated their group admirably and have already qualified for the quarterfinals. They currently lead the standings, with one game left to play in the group phase. They have yet to taste defeat and will have an opportunity to cement their berth at the summit with victory over Al Ahly in Cairo on 18 January 2025. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though Stellenbosch cannot finish atop their Confed Cup mini-league due to club Moroccan RS Berkane taking an unassailable lead, the Cape Winelands club has also reached the knockout phase in what is its African competition debut — to the elation of the Stellies’ head coach Steve Barker.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We didn’t start in the best fashion with the two early losses. But the team has shown great character and belief in each other to get three wins on the bounce,” Barker said in reflection of his team’s continental journey to date. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“That’s also credit to the effort they have been putting in, and I’m glad they could reward themselves with qualification,” Barker said. “I am extremely proud and excited about what lies ahead in the knockout stages of the competition.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Western Cape club’s final group stage encounter is against Group B leaders Berkane, and they will be out to finish on a flurry before the quarterfinals. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only other South African representative yet to book a spot in the knockout round is Sundowns. The perennial Champions League participants need at least one point from their final match of the group phase. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2546279\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2333180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1784\" height=\"1142\" /> <em>Orlando Pirates defend their goal during their CAF Champions League match against CR Belouizdad at Orlando Stadium on 12 January 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2546280\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2333318.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1142\" /> <em>Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It won’t be an easy task though as the Brazilians battle top of the table ASFAR. The Moroccans and Sundowns played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their group tussle. The second stanza will be played in South Africa, handing the South Africans a marginal advantage. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another Moroccan outfit, Raja Casablanca, will be on the heels of Sundowns should they slip up. Third-placed Raja are three points behind Masandawana. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We are aware of the condition of our group. It’s a group where whoever advances to the next round will be decided in the last game,” said Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the South African champions fall short, it would be the first time since 2018 that they don’t qualify for the knockout round of Africa’s premier club contest.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, if Sundowns join Pirates and Stellies in the knockouts, it would be the first time that South Africa’s representatives in CAF competition all qualify for the knockouts simultaneously. Which would bode well for Bafana Bafana’s 2025 ambitions. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My way of thinking is that the national team is a reflection of your country's football. When the national team is doing well, like right now with Bafana, it’s because something is happening in our football right now,” said Pirates coach José Riveiro. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s good for the league, and it is a true reflection of what happened in the last Afcon with South Africa.” </span><b>DM</b>",
"teaser": "Bafana’s future looking bright as SA clubs shine in Africa, fuelling World Cup aspirations",
"externalUrl": "",
"sponsor": null,
"authors": [
{
"id": "19802",
"name": "Yanga Sibembe",
"image": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sibembe.jpg",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/author/yanga-sibembe/",
"editorialName": "yanga-sibembe",
"department": "",
"name_latin": ""
}
],
"description": "",
"keywords": [
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "6178",
"name": "Sports",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/sports/",
"slug": "sports",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Sports",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "11237",
"name": "Stellenbosch",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/stellenbosch/",
"slug": "stellenbosch",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Stellenbosch",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "15707",
"name": "Orlando Pirates",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/orlando-pirates/",
"slug": "orlando-pirates",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Orlando Pirates",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "19203",
"name": "CAF Champions League",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/caf-champions-league/",
"slug": "caf-champions-league",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "CAF Champions League",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "53021",
"name": "soccer",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/soccer/",
"slug": "soccer",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "soccer",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "55712",
"name": "Bafana Bafana",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/bafana-bafana/",
"slug": "bafana-bafana",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Bafana Bafana",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "240814",
"name": "Mamelodi Sundowns",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/mamelodi-sundowns/",
"slug": "mamelodi-sundowns",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Mamelodi Sundowns",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "347885",
"name": "Yanga Sibembe",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/yanga-sibembe/",
"slug": "yanga-sibembe",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Yanga Sibembe",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "350798",
"name": "Hugo Broos",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/hugo-broos/",
"slug": "hugo-broos",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Hugo Broos",
"translations": null
}
}
],
"short_summary": null,
"source": null,
"related": [],
"options": [],
"attachments": [
{
"id": "31183",
"name": "Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker during the CAF Confederation Cup match between Stellenbosch FC and Stade Malien at Loftus Stadium on January 12, 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bafana Bafana are poised for their most significant year in some time. The senior men’s team is targeting Fifa World Cup qualification, as well as building on their bronze medal-winning displays at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, national team head coach Hugo Broos will be pleased with what he has seen from South Africa’s representatives in the two Confederation of African Football (CAF) club competitions so far this season. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns are flying the South African flag in the Champions League, while Stellenbosch have made a memorable debut in the auxiliary Confederation Cup. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Buccaneers last played in the Champions League group stage in 2018, but none of this rustiness has been visible so far this season. This is despite Pirates being drawn in a tough group alongside record African champions Al Ahly and Algerian heavyweights CR Belouizdad, as well as Ivorian outfit Stade d’Abidjan. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Buccaneers have navigated their group admirably and have already qualified for the quarterfinals. They currently lead the standings, with one game left to play in the group phase. They have yet to taste defeat and will have an opportunity to cement their berth at the summit with victory over Al Ahly in Cairo on 18 January 2025. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though Stellenbosch cannot finish atop their Confed Cup mini-league due to club Moroccan RS Berkane taking an unassailable lead, the Cape Winelands club has also reached the knockout phase in what is its African competition debut — to the elation of the Stellies’ head coach Steve Barker.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We didn’t start in the best fashion with the two early losses. But the team has shown great character and belief in each other to get three wins on the bounce,” Barker said in reflection of his team’s continental journey to date. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“That’s also credit to the effort they have been putting in, and I’m glad they could reward themselves with qualification,” Barker said. “I am extremely proud and excited about what lies ahead in the knockout stages of the competition.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Western Cape club’s final group stage encounter is against Group B leaders Berkane, and they will be out to finish on a flurry before the quarterfinals. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only other South African representative yet to book a spot in the knockout round is Sundowns. The perennial Champions League participants need at least one point from their final match of the group phase. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2546279\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1784\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2546279\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2333180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1784\" height=\"1142\" /> <em>Orlando Pirates defend their goal during their CAF Champions League match against CR Belouizdad at Orlando Stadium on 12 January 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2546280\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1800\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2546280\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2333318.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1142\" /> <em>Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It won’t be an easy task though as the Brazilians battle top of the table ASFAR. The Moroccans and Sundowns played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their group tussle. The second stanza will be played in South Africa, handing the South Africans a marginal advantage. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another Moroccan outfit, Raja Casablanca, will be on the heels of Sundowns should they slip up. Third-placed Raja are three points behind Masandawana. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We are aware of the condition of our group. It’s a group where whoever advances to the next round will be decided in the last game,” said Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the South African champions fall short, it would be the first time since 2018 that they don’t qualify for the knockout round of Africa’s premier club contest.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, if Sundowns join Pirates and Stellies in the knockouts, it would be the first time that South Africa’s representatives in CAF competition all qualify for the knockouts simultaneously. Which would bode well for Bafana Bafana’s 2025 ambitions. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My way of thinking is that the national team is a reflection of your country's football. When the national team is doing well, like right now with Bafana, it’s because something is happening in our football right now,” said Pirates coach José Riveiro. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s good for the league, and it is a true reflection of what happened in the last Afcon with South Africa.” </span><b>DM</b>",
"focal": "50% 50%",
"width": 0,
"height": 0,
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg",
"transforms": [
{
"x": "200",
"y": "100",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/FyoxabGsezp6Qs2I62fFaiQLG1M=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg"
},
{
"x": "450",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/ozryfRE2LI-B5wy8FOp2ijayRbo=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg"
},
{
"x": "800",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/r4GaMOaTZpvoVnLdBXaL-vjUlUA=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1200",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/4n9jjZDQ1wOxxNgpfFH0iUYgWWY=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1600",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/FeGaO1HU9uYf2wgRuvs7K-Ytj7A=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg"
}
],
"url_thumbnail": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/FyoxabGsezp6Qs2I62fFaiQLG1M=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg",
"url_medium": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/ozryfRE2LI-B5wy8FOp2ijayRbo=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg",
"url_large": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/r4GaMOaTZpvoVnLdBXaL-vjUlUA=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg",
"url_xl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/4n9jjZDQ1wOxxNgpfFH0iUYgWWY=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg",
"url_xxl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/FeGaO1HU9uYf2wgRuvs7K-Ytj7A=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TL_2304582.jpg",
"type": "image"
}
],
"summary": "The continental competition experience gained by some of the players that Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos relies on may prove invaluable in a massive 2025 for the national team.",
"template_type": null,
"dm_custom_section_label": null,
"elements": [],
"seo": {
"search_title": "Bafana’s future looking bright as SA clubs shine in Africa, fuelling World Cup aspirations",
"search_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bafana Bafana are poised for their most significant year in some time. The senior men’s team is targeting Fifa World Cup qualification, as well as building on their bro",
"social_title": "Bafana’s future looking bright as SA clubs shine in Africa, fuelling World Cup aspirations",
"social_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bafana Bafana are poised for their most significant year in some time. The senior men’s team is targeting Fifa World Cup qualification, as well as building on their bro",
"social_image": ""
},
"cached": true,
"access_allowed": true
} 
Orlando Pirates defend their goal during their CAF Champions League match against CR Belouizdad at Orlando Stadium on 12 January 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)
Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)