South African sports fans take their own sweet time to warm up to players and coaches. We’re a fickle bunch here in Mzansi en ons bors raak sommer gou warm for those on the pitch or on the sidelines.
But once you’ve stood the test of time and has won us over, you can get away with just about anything (on the field of play) and the country will support you. Just ask Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
I do, however, believe that slowly but surely, the Rassie/Siya Kolisi “Whatsapp group” of “safety” has grown to include one more person… and he’s not even South African, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos.
Yes, after 38 games in charge of what was at one time a broertjie innie tronk (jy’s lief vir hom maar jy praat nie oor hom nie), Broos has earned the trust of South Africans and also brought Bafana back into the conversation when we talk about our beloved sports teams.
Let’s be honest, after 2010 and Siphiwe Tshabalala’s stunning World Cup opening goal against Mexico at Soccer City and then also the 2-1 win over France in Bloemfontein, Bafana Bafana were on the decline.
Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira was in charge of the team at that World Cup.
In the 11 years after that tournament, Bafana tried an incredible eight coaches including Parreira – none of whom with much luck.
In fact, the country has not yet played in a World Cup again and also failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations four times from 2010.
The last time South Africa failed to qualify for the continental showpiece in 2021, then-coach Molefi Ntseki was told to pak his tassies.
In stepped our guy Broos, who had his doubters and was also very reguit about the state of soccer in South Africa. Naturally, not being from the country, his words weren’t well received by all.
But his assessment was spot on.
Of his early days as Bafana Bafana coach, Broos said when on SABC last week when announcing his squad for the upcoming Afcon Qualifiers against Uganda this week and South Sudan next week: “I was very surprised when I came here and the environment around the team was negative.
“There was nothing positive.
“[According to the narrative] ‘the coach was not good’, ‘players weren’t good, Safa not good’.
“Then you start changing things. Things that people are not used to seeing or feeling. That is a normal thing.
“First of all, maybe they don’t understand and maybe they don’t like that you have good success. In the beginning I wasn’t good for the critics, but if that were based on real things then maybe I have to change [my ways].
“I got a lot of criticism about [not including] Themba [Zwane], I could understand that. I thought at that moment I can’t build a future with him [because of his age and I changed my mind].
“The criticism was based on a real thing.
“[But] telling me the way I worked was not good, that I didn’t respect the nation, then you are just looking at things to hurt someone.
“After [losing to] Morocco [in a 2022 Afcon Qualifier amid a poor run], I had reflection at home [in Belgium] and thought about ‘if you are going back’. We said let’s try again and suddenly things changed.”
And try he did. As it stands, Broos is the most-capped Bafana coach of all time with 38 matches. He’s now been in the hot seat for 1 288 days – second only to the legendary Clive Barker who was in charge of the team for 1 461 days.
With 19 wins, 13 draws and just six defeats to his name, Broos’s team has also scored 63 goals during that time and conceded 44.
While he’s not happy about the goals conceded, Broos adds of the journey to date: “It was difficult in the beginning when I was here.
“Certainly I think people didn’t understand how I worked. From the first day I knew I was going to do it like that and if I didn’t succeed, I did it my way.
“But this is not the work of one man, it’s the work of a fantastic team… everybody knows their job. We are like one big family. Everyone works to put those players in the best possible circumstances to do their work…”
And long may their good partnership continue.
South Africans will continue to back their Belgian and his span when they tackle Uganda on Friday.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos had his full complement of players at training today after the arrival of Siyabonga Ngezana and Luke Le Roux in the morning.#BafanaPride#AfconQualifier pic.twitter.com/HQRBk3jZ1r
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) November 12, 2024