Menzi Magubane
Now that Bafana Bafana has their man in the Belgian Hugo Broos, who is he?
One thing that stands out about the 69 year old is that he has a good cup winning pedigree.
Having started his coaching career in 1988 with RWD Molenbeek in Belgium, he has since mentored 10 more teams in different countries around Europe, Asia and Africa.
To name but a few, there are Belgium giants RSC Anderlecht and Club Brugge that our own Percy Tau has played for recently.
There is also Genk where late Anele Ngcongca played 223 games in his stay in Belgium between 2006 and 2017.
Broos did well in Belgium where he won Belgian manager of the year awards in the 1991/92‚ 1995/96, 2003/04 and 2006/07 seasons.
He also won the Belgian league with Brugge in 1991/92 and 1995/96 seasons. Still with Brugge, he won the Belgian Cup in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1996.
In the 2003/04 season he won the league (Belgium Pro League) with Anderlecht.
The only national team that the former defender has coached is Cameroon between 2016 and December 2017. He made an instant impact by leading them to their first CAF Africa Cup of Nations glory since 2002.
Broos’ Indomitable Lions were crowned 2017 Afcon champions after beating tournament favourite Egypt 2-1 in the final.
Such success is what Bafana needs in a coach to reclaim their 1996 glory days. But can Broos rub off his success on Bafana?
Before agreeing to mentor Bafana he was a caretaker manager and sports director at Belgian club Oostende. Coaches are often judged by their first matches and for Broos, his are back-to-back.
Bafana play Zimbabwe away then days later host Ghana in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers that are now likely to begin in September.
These qualifiers were initially scheduled to start in the first week of June. Ethiopia is also in Group G with Bafana. The Belgian has to win to secure a place in the world showpiece in Qatar.
Picture source: @ecr_newswatch
