Magnificent coach Broos gets credit for Bafana success

Former Bafana coach Gordon Igesund believes Hugo Broos has done a magnificent job coaching the national squad. (Photo: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images)

By Yanga Sibembe

2 Feb 2025

Soon it will be four years since the Belgian has been at the helm of the national men’s squad, whose performance has only improved.

For the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), South Africa’s senior men’s soccer side, Bafana Bafana, have been grouped with seven-time African champions Egypt, who boast stars such as Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.

Also in their Afcon group are Angola and Zimbabwe. It’s not an easy group, but it is one from which this Bafana Bafana squad will be confident of moving forward to the knockout rounds.

At the previous edition of Afcon in 2023, Bafana Bafana, coached by Belgian Hugo Broos, picked up their first major tournament medal in two decades when they finished third. But their former coach, Gordon Igesund, believes under Broos they can do even better.

“We definitely have a team that’s capable of beating anybody, even though it was a tough draw. People will say Egypt is among the favourites, but we can also be in that block. South Africa under Broos has really performed well – he’s done a magnificent job,” Igesund said.

“Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast and all these other ‘big teams’ are really good. But we must not underestimate ourselves. We’ve done really well over the past four years, so we need to be behind our team.

“In a tournament you go in wanting to win every game, including the final. That’s what entering a competition is about,” the former Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates coach added.

“You don’t want to be also-rans and say, it would be great if we get to the quarterfinal or semifinal. No one is going to tell you in five years’ time who finished fourth in the Africa Cup of Nations. But they will tell you who won it.

“So, it’s important that we believe as a country and support the team. We need to believe that we can do it. I certainly believe we can do it.

“I’m not saying it will be easy; it’s going to be tough. Nothing is easy in this life of football. You have to set yourself a standard. You have to get the players to believe in themselves, which I’m sure Broos will do…

“At the end of the day, whatever happens, happens. But the team will give its best. It has improved tremendously over the past few years.”

Read more: The ‘real deal’ — despite Bafana Bafana’s painful past with foreign coaches, Hugo Broos has proven his mettle

Improved performance

When Bafana Bafana clinched the Afcon title in 1996, they had some of the best players on the continent. Then coach Clive Barker had brought together a squad that encapsulated the diversity of post-apartheid South Africa.

From the likes of Doctor Khumalo, Lucas Radebe and Neil Tovey to Mark Williams and current Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, the team represented what many hoped would be the future of South Africa. That, and helping to erase the painful memories of the past, was Bafana’s mission.

Maybe it is one of the reasons various Bafana squads suffered something of an identity crisis after that generation stepped down, and struggled to match the success of those early years after apartheid. Of course, it is not the only reason.

Certainly, maladministration also played a role in Bafana Bafana’s suffering heavy losses and a much-diminished reputation for many years.

But under Broos, who will have been four years in charge of the national team in May, Bafana Bafana seem once again to have a sense of purpose. The squad is not as star-studded as the one that conquered Africa almost three decades ago, but the players have shown just as much passion and hunger for success as the 1996 squad did.

The Broos effect

Gordon Igesund praises Hugo Broos Former Bafana coach Gordon Igesund believes Hugo Broos has done a magnificent job coaching the national squad. (Photo: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images)

This is largely due to Broos’s instilling a culture of responsibility, discipline and national pride in his players. The no-nonsense coach is not a dictator, but he is a firm leader.

He has created an army of mostly locally based players that he trusts to represent the country to the best of its ability, even against the best teams in the world. This army features players who fight not just for their country, but for Broos too.

“The guy is so relaxed but he’s straightforward, so everyone knows the way things must be done in camp. He puts down the boundaries and that’s how it is. He doesn’t compromise,” captain Ronwen Williams has previously said of Broos.

Despite Bafana Bafana not vanquishing any African soccer heavyweights on their way to qualifying for Morocco 2025, they still had to achieve the feat of qualifying – something that proved to be rather elusive before Broos arrived.

When South Africa failed to qualify for Afcon 2021 under Molefi Ntseki, it was the fourth time in 11 years that they missed the biennial showpiece.

Previously, they had failed to qualify in 2010, 2012 and 2017.

Positive vibes

Because of Broos’s methods, South Africa have not only qualified for two consecutive Afcons (2023 and 2025), but have also finished at the top of their group on their journey to Morocco. In addition, alongside Algeria, Bafana Bafana finished as joint second-best scorers in the qualification campaign, hitting 16 goals in six matches.

Only Afcon hosts Morocco, with a ridiculous 26 goals in six games, were better. Hence Broos, who won the Afcon with Cameroon in 2017, fancies the odds of his team.

“When I look at our opponents for Afcon, Egypt is the favourite to win the group,” Broos said. “They didn’t have a very good Afcon last time, and they didn’t perform like everybody expected. They were out of the tournament early.

“But in the past year, year and a half, they have built again a very good team. They did very well in the qualifiers, so that will be the team to beat for first place.

“Then we have Zimbabwe,” Broos continued. “We played against Zimbabwe for the World Cup qualifiers in Qatar. We played against Zimbabwe for the qualification of the last Afcon, but they were suspended, so there was no game between us.

“We also have Zimbabwe in the qualifiers for the next World Cup, and we have them now in the Afcon.

“Zimbabwe is our neighbour, and it’s always a difficult game for us. On the other hand, all the games we played already against Zimbabwe, we played one draw and we won three times, so winning against Zimbabwe is very possible at Afcon.”

About the last member of Bafana Bafana’s group in this Afcon, Broos said: “Angola is a team I don’t know very well. So, it will be important to do a good analysis of Angola and be well prepared to play that game.”

He acknowledged that the group is not an easy one, but said: “We have a great opportunity to qualify for the next round. As you know, in Afcon, after the group stages, everything is possible, so we will do everything to do better than the last Afcon.”

Afcon will kick off on 18 December 2025 and end on 21 January 2026.

Hosts Morocco will be chasing only their second gold medal, having last won the tournament in 1976. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Improved performance

The Broos effect

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