African champion with Cameroon in 2017, Hugo Broos has qualified South Africa for the next Africa Cup of Nations, to be held in Côte d'Ivoire in January 2024. The Belgian coach is delighted with Bafana Bafana's progress.
Barring disaster and a Vahid Halilhodzic-style fate, Hugo Broos will be on the South Africa bench at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. It will be his second Africa Cup of Nations. He won his first in 2017 in Gabon with Cameroon, beating all the predictions. In conflict with the bosses of the Cameroon Football Federation, he was unable to defend his title in Egypt in 2019, leaving the field open to Clarence Seedorf, who failed miserably. And for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the experienced 71-year-old coach will not have been able to turn around a South Africa he had taken over a few months earlier.
"I'm happier with the performance than the result".
Hugo Broos made up for it somewhat by qualifying Bafana Bafana for the tournament in Côte d'Ivoire. Admittedly, the task was not a very complicated one in a group that had lost Zimbabwe and where only Morocco and Liberia remained for two places. But the South African coach will still be able to add a 2-1 win over Walid Regragui's Morocco, who finished fourth at the last World Cup, to his CV with South Africa on Saturday 17 June. It was a victory he is relishing. "I think you'll agree that what you saw was a team that has made huge strides in recent months. We played against a very good Moroccan team and we were never dominated. I don't need to tell you that I'm very happy today. Not just because we won the match, but I'm happier with the performance," says the Belgian.
"Some people thought I didn't understand South African culture".
However, the former defender did not forget to send out a little slide tackle to his detractors. "You see, you don't build a team in a day. You need time. And during that time, defeats can be very useful. So we've had defeats, and we've learned a lot from them. Some people didn't believe it because they thought I'd made the wrong choices and that I didn't understand South African culture," he added.
Since being appointed South Africa coach in May 2021, Hugo Broos has managed 17 matches, winning 10, drawing four and losing three, scoring 24 goals and conceding 17.
