HUGO STAYING PUT
BAFANA: ABOUT-TURN ON PLAN TO QUIT AFTER AFCON ➳ SA have exceeded all expectations by reaching the last-four of the continental football showpiece.
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has stressed he has no plans to leave his post after an extremely successful Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in the Ivory Coast.
South Africa played Nigeria in the semifinals at Stade Bouake last night and irrespective of the outcome, Bafana have exceeded expectations by reaching the lastfour of the African football showpiece for the first time in 24 years.
Broos gave an interview to Belgian website hln.be ahead of the tournament where he suggested he may be fired if Bafana had a bad Afcon, and that coaching
South Africa may be his last job in football.
Clearly, however, progressing to the last four – with some big wins along the way – has reignited any waning passion the Belgian had for the game.
“Why would I think about that (quitting)?” said Broos to a question at the pre-match press conference.
“I said (before), I am 71, so there are moments to think about stopping, but as long as we are going on like we are now, why stop?
“I like my job and I like football so we will see what the future will bring.
“I think it is totally normal, after 36 years as a coach and 18 years of playing that, little by little you start thinking about the end of your career, but nothing more than that.”
Broos added that it would be “fantastic” if he was able to win the Africa Cup of Nations with Bafana. He has already won the tournament once before, taking Cameroon all the way to the title in 2017 in Gabon.
“I can say I can be proud of
myself to have two different teams in the semifinals,” said Broos.
“And I have won the Afcon already, that is something special, but on the other hand once you are in this phase of the tournament, you hope to win it (again).
“If I should succeed it would be fantastic for my CV. But it is not only the coach, it is also the team.
You can’t do it with a bad team. So let’s see what this semifinal (against Nigeria) gives us.
South Africa’s path to the semifinals has brought plenty of optimism about Bafana’s future.
While they lost their opening game 2-0 to Mali, they hit back with an impressive 4-0 win against neighbours Namibia, and then drew 0-0 with Tunisia to qualify for the knockout rounds.
In the last-16 Broos’ men beat the highly-fancied Morocco 2-0 and in the quarterfinals they edged Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties after playing to a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes and extra-time.
► Please see later editions or log on to citizen.co.za for last night’s Afcon semifinal results.