De Lille welcomes Bafana to Cape Town
Cape Town is looking forward to hosting Bafana Bafana for the first time in a major soccer competition on Saturday, said mayor Patricia de Lille.
FILE PICTURE: Patricia de Lille. Image courtesy: Facebook
“We are very proud of them,” De Lille said at the team’s training session in Pinelands, Cape Town, on Thursday, for the African Nations Championship (Chan) tournament.
“Let’s get that World Cup fever back. Let’s make Fridays a Bafana day, where we all wear our yellow jerseys for the team.”
De Lille said the city was delighted to have Bafana back and had pulled out all the stops to make them feel welcome. She called on South Africans across the country to turn out in numbers to support them.
South Africa will play all three of their group stage fixtures in Cape Town, kicking off with a tricky fixture against Mozambique on Saturday.
They play Mali on January 15 and round off against tournament favourites Nigeria four days later.
Cape Town will also be the venue for the tournament final on February 1. Hosting a tournament like Chan would boost soccer development in the area and would encourage more youngsters to take part in the game at a grassroots level, De Lille said.
“The last time Bafana played here, we were able to get about 30,000 people to the stadium.
“We are working very hard, especially for young people to come and see the matches, because these players are role models for them,” she said.
“I’m very confident that we are going to have a very successful tournament. We certainly want Bafana to play more games in Cape Town.”
– Sapa
