'I am very motivated to achieve this and so is my team,' said the Bafana head coach.
Hugo Broos would love to make it a 40 year journey from playing at the Fifa World Cup to coaching at one with Bafana Bafana.
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Broos was part of the Belgian side that finished fourth at the 1986 Fifa World Cup in Mexico. The defender even scored in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinal win over Spain.
Broos’ Bafana improvements
The Belgian took over as Bafana head coach in 2021. While Bafana just missed out on a place at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Broos has done superbly to build a competitive South African football team.
Bafana finished third at the most recent Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast. They have also comfortably qualified for for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco at the end of this year.
South Africa are also five points clear at he top of of World Cup qualifying Group C, with four games left to play.
If Bafana can beat Lesotho on Friday at the Free State Stadium, and Nigeria four days later at the same venue, they will at the very least be on the brink of making it to the World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico next year.
“It will be 40 years next year since I played in the World Cup in Mexico,” said Broos this week.
“It would be fantastic to do it as a trainer 40 years later. This is my last job. I am 73, I am not going to go on until I am 80. It would be a nice moment to stop. I am very motivated to achieve this and so is my team. When you have a career as a coach like that, and you have played at a World Cup, I don’t think so many coaches have had the opportunity to do this.
“We all know that the next two games can maybe with a bit of luck be the final step to qualify for the World Cup. So from our side we are very motivated to play tomorrow’s game (against Lesotho) and to try and win,” he added.
All change for Bafana
Broos has made several changes to his Bafana squad for these two matches. Some players are out injured, and others are out of form.
And the Bafana coach has been happy with the dedication shown by new players in his squad such as Kamogelo Sebelebele and Mduduzi Shabalala.
“It is not about this player or that player. For me it was very important to see how the new players would behave,” said Broos.
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“And I am very happy with them. They have been really motivated to show me that the choice I made was the right one. I am confident that if we need them … if they start tomorrow, we don’t have to worry about it.”
