Bafana Bafana have qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) without kicking a ball, but they will not be taking the foot off the pedal as they play Uganda on Friday.
The South African senior men’s national team arrived in Kampala, Uganda, on Thursday ahead of their Afcon qualifier against the hosts on Friday and was preparing to go to training when word reached the camp about developments in South Sudan that would have implications in Group K.
The Sudanese pulled off a stunning feat that would have repercussions in Group K after they beat Congo Brazzaville 3-2 in another group match on Thursday, in a result that enabled both Bafana Bafana and Uganda to qualify for the tournament while sitting in their respective hotels in Kampala.
Broos’ charges can now go into their qualifier against the Ugandans at the multipurpose Mandela National Stadium in Kampala on Friday with a spring in their step after securing back-to-back qualification to the Afcon.
While the South Africa camp celebrated the win, Broos said they would not pop the champagne bottles yet and would still go full throttle in the matches against Uganda today and against the selfsame South Sudan in Cape Town on Tuesday, 19 November 2024.
“We want to win the game; we want to win to end top of the group and that means we have to beat Uganda. So (qualifying) does not change anything for us. I hope that it will be a nice game and a good game. It will be a full house, and there will be a lot of atmosphere inside the stadium. This is motivation for the players and let us hope that the best team wins today,” he said.
Captain Ronwen Williams: “We want to finish the year on a positive note. We have had a wonderful year, a successful year, so we want to keep building on that. It is going to be a tough one (against Uganda), we are excited. The week has been amazing, we have got some of the players back who have been injured and that is good. We lost some of our players (due to injury) and we will be playing on their behalf as well because they have been on this journey with us. It has been a long journey, and we are proud of our achievement getting to Afcon back-to-back.”
South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr Danny Jordaan congratulated the team after they qualified for the next Afcon with two games to spare.
“Congratulations to coach Hugo Broos, his technical and support staff, the players and everybody who contributes to the team. This is a magnificent feat to have qualified for the next Afcon in the same year that Bafana Bafana won the bronze medal at the tournament held in Côte d’Ivoire from 13 January – 11 February 2024. On behalf of the SAFA NEC, congratulations to the team,” Dr Jordaan said.