PARTY LIKE IT’S ’96: Bafana dream of breaking 28-year Afcon title drought
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LOFTY GOALS: Percy Tau, centre, is expected to lead the Bafana Bafana attack at Afcon ‘23. Picture: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
The period soon after the birth of the “new South Africa” or “Rainbow Nation”, whichever way you prefer to put it post-1994, was a beautiful one for South African sport.
Those who lived through it will remember the iconic scenes of Francois Pienaar and Nelson Mandela lifting the Webb Ellis Cup at Ellis Park in 1995, before Neil Tovey and Madiba shared the magic of lifting the African Cup of Nations at Soccer City the following year.
I was lucky enough to have been part of that euphoria and hope in our country at the time.
Fast forward some 29 years and our rugby team has added three more World Cups, while Bafana Bafana are yet to add a single one.
Could this be the year that they finally emulate the ‘96 side led by Tovey, with Mark Williams scoring twice in the final against Morocco to win gold?
As they gear up for a first continental tournament since 2019, let’s see what our manne’s chances are of bringing home the bacon.
With the two top teams in each of the six groups advancing to the Round of 16, the four best-positioned third-placed teams also go through.
So let’s see what’s going to klap at Afcon 2023.
Group A: Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria
Hosts Ivory Coast and Nigeria are clear favourites to record automatic qualifying spots for the playoffs.
Three-time champions (1980, 1994 and 2013), Nigeria sailed through qualification with striker Victor Osimhen scoring the most goals (10) of all players in qualification.
The next best is only five. While Osimhen will be a gevaar for the Super Eagles, also keep an eye out for speedy captain Moses Simon.
As for Ivory Coast, they will be looking to win a third Afcon after bagging the trophy in 1992 and 2015.
Playing on home soil, they’ve got a physically strong midfield including the likes of Ibrahim Sangare, Franck Kessie and Seko Fofana, as well as a strong defence.
But it will be up to striker Sebastien Haller and winger Jonathan Bamba to drive the team forward.
Group B: Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Mozambique
Seven-time winners Egypt last won the tournament back in 2010 – a year before their most famous export, Mo Salah, made his debut for the team.
Salah will be out to change all that this year.Ghana, meanwhile, should advance from this group alongside the Pharoahs.
The Black Stars have won the tournament four times (1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982) but are currently looking to break a 42-year drought.
They failed to win a single match at the last Afcon, so can big-name attackers such as Mohammed Kudus and Inaki Williams inspire them to do better?
Group C: Cameroon, Gambia, Guinea, Senegal
Quarterfinalists last time out, Gambia will once again be looking to jaag die skape deurmekaar in this group.
It was Cameroon who ended their tournament in 2021, thanks to a Karl Toko Ekambi double.
KO’d by Egypt in the semis, coach Rigobert Song’s Cameroon are looking to add to the five trophies (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017) they’ve won to date.
For that to happen, they’ll need midfielder Zambo Anguissa, Ekambi and goalkeeper Andre Onana to be at their best.
Speaking of the best, that honour currently belongs to Sadio Mane and his Senegal teammates.
The defending champions won their first Afcon title last time out, with striker Nicolas Jackson, winger Ismaila Sarr and defender and captain Kalidou Koulibaly all looking to help Mane make it back-to-back titles.
Group D: Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Mauritania
Riyad Mahrez and Algeria went from champs to chumps in the last edition, failing to win a single group match and exiting at the first hurdle after winning the tournament in 2019.
With a midfield including Houssem Aouar, Ismael Bennacer and Nabil Bentaleb they should be doing better. In contrast, Burkina Faso were the fairy-tale manne last time out – making it all the way to the semis.
They will be looking to make the playoffs again from this group, with 21-year-old Dango Ouattara being their grootste threat up front.
Group E: Mali, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia
South Africans will be hoping their team packed in their scoring boots to get out of this group.
Facing Percy Tau and his teammates are two of the stingiest sides in Africa in qualification for this tournament.
In fact, Tunisia proved to be the suinigstespan in qualification – conceding only once in six outings.
Mali, meanwhile, conceded only twice, while Namibia’s Peter Shalulile will provide an attacking threat after scoring four goals in qualifying.
Bafana will miss their most lethal hitman Lyle Foster, who struck three goals in qualifying.
While Bafana and Namibia failed to qualify for the last tournament, Tunisia made the quarterfinals, while Mali made the Round of 16.
Group F: DR Congo, Morocco, Tanzania, Zambia
After making it all the way to the semifinals at the Fifa World Cup, Morocco enter this tournament with big expectations.
They’ve only ever won Afcon in 1976, but with goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, defenders Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd, midfielders Sofyan Amrabat, Hakim Ziyech, Amine Harit and forwards Youssef En-Nesyri and Sofiane Boufal in their ranks they will be looking to double that tally.
Cedric Bakambu, Arthur Masuaku and Silas Katompa Mvumpa will be hoping that the DRC can join Morocco for an automatic playoff spot, while Patson Daka will be looking to fire Zambia into the knockouts.