Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos dropped a bold statement following South Africa’s 2-0 victory over Uganda in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
South Africa defeated the Cranes 2-0 at the Mandela National Stadium on Friday afternoon, with Thapelo Morena and Patrick Maswanganyi finding the back of the net.
Both Uganda and South Africa came to the match having qualified, thanks to South Sudan’s victory over Congo Brazzaville the previous day.
Broos says coming out victorious against Uganda in their backyard silenced critics who have been claiming that South Africa are “lucky”.
He emphasised that his troops deserved to qualify for AFCON, which will be held in Morocco in 2025.
HUGO BROOS – ‘WE PROVED THAT WE DON’T NEED LUCK’
“Let’s say that we win next Tuesday, I think we [will] have 14 points then,” said Broos. “There were some games where we could have won, especially at home against Uganda.
“It was very important to win here today, certainly to be first in the group. Nobody can [say] now that we are lucky like some were saying yesterday [Thursday] after the defeat of Congo, saying South Africa is lucky.
“I think we proved today that we don’t need luck. We proved that we can win games and that we deserve to qualify for AFCON.”
Broos stated that merely qualifying for AFCON is not enough; they aim to top the group.
Bafana will host South Sudan on Tuesday, 19 November at 6 PM in their final group stage match of the qualifiers.
BROOS WANTS BAFANA TO FINISH ON TOP OF THE GROUP
“We try to win every game, we don’t play to lose, we want to win every game,” he added.
“And it’s very important for South Africa, again, that we win this group. We will qualify, but we wouldn’t be happy to be second in the group.
“So, that’s why today we tried to win this game against Uganda, and we succeeded. This is what they call a cherry on top. We could have lost the game today and next Tuesday, but that’s not what we want. We want to win every game.
“It was not easy; it was a tough opponent [Uganda]. We will fight again next Tuesday to have three points again.”