Menzi Magubane
Bafana will start their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday against Zimbabwe in Group G – the first hurdle the team faces with new Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos in charge.
The Belgian’s mandate is to make sure that Bafana qualifies for soccer’s ultimate prize, the FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar in 2022.
The last time Bafana qualified for a World Cup was two decades ago in 2002 for the tournament played in Korea and Japan.
The first time they qualified was in 1998 in France. South Africa has only ever played in three World Cups, the last time being in 2010 when they hosted the tournament and therefore got automatic qualification.
Broos has a tough task ahead of him. His bosses, SAFA, are known for not taking any prisoners if the coach fails to deliver – especially in qualifying for big tournaments.
Molefi Ntseki can attest to that after Bafana failed to qualify for the upcoming CAF Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon. He was shown the exit door and Broos took his place.
Their toughest opponent in Group G is Ghana. And the two African giants face each other on Monday in South Africa.
The last time these two nations met was in March at the Afcon qualifiers. That match ended in a stalemate here at home and Ghana qualified for Africa’s biggest tournament.
There are also the stubborn Ethiopians in the group. The last time Bafana played them they won that match in 2013 in Ethiopia.
The Zimbabwean match will be Broos’s first official game since taking over from Ntseki in May. Bafana has played a number of games since then after Broos took charge, but the Belgian was not in the dugout for any of them.
He was at home for Covid-19 vaccination when Bafana beat Uganda and when they won the Cosafa Cup. Helman Mkhalele and Cedomir Janevski were there to lead the team to those victories.
The team he picked for these back-to-back matches is dominated by new faces with most of them being young players with no experience of international games.
Picture source:@safa.net
