Broos hails Makgopa magic after Bafana reach AFCON quarterfinals

Hugo Broos says he always had faith in Evidence Makgopa, after the Bafana striker rewarded his coach’s confidence with a fine goal in South Africa’s stunning 2-0 Africa Cup of Nations last 16 win over Morocco on Tuesday.

Makgopa had come under fire in some quarters after failing to score in the group stages, but the Orlando Pirates marksman stayed just onside and came up with a cool finish in the 57^th minute at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro, to set Bafana on their way to a quarterfinal meeting with Cape Verde on Saturday.

“There were those who doubted Makgopa when he was with us. I always believed that this guy will be a very good striker. And he proved it today, he worked hard and scored a fantastic goal,” said Broos, whose side sealed the victory in stoppage time with a beautifully curled free kick from Teboho Mokoena.

Broos was effusive in the praise of all his players in the way they followed his instructions against Morocco. The Bafana head coach knew that chances would be few and far between against the Atlas Lions, and that his side had to be clinical.

“I didn’t do it (win the match), the players did it,” he said.

“I can just tell the players what they have to do. Every coach hopes that what they are telling their players is the right thing. Until now (at this tournament) it was the right thing, but it is also because the players did what they were asked to do.

“We were very disciplined, we knew we wouldn’t have four, five, six or ten chances (to score), but when we had a chance, we had to use it and that is what we did.”

Impressive record

Broos has slowly but surely built an impressive record with this Bafana side since taking over as head coach.

They were not far away from sealing a place in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying play-offs, winning at home to Ghana, and only losing in Ghana, where they missed out on a play-off spot to a contentious penalty.

Bafana then qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, having failed to make the 2021 edition under Molefi Ntseki, and have surpassed expectations already in the Ivory Coast. Bafana have achieved a quarterfinal spot despite playing against sides with far more overseas-based stars than they have.

South Africa, in fact, are the squad with the most locally-based players at the tournament.

“It is important that players have confidence, and you get confidence from winning games,” said Broos.

“We needed time to make a team. There were a lot of critics of the choices I made but I knew what I was doing. I know results have to follow, but even with locally-based players, when you have confidence you can do it. It was very important for South African football to have a good performance at this tournament.”