SOWETAN SAYS | Bafana Bafana set to shine in Afcon

It is safe to say the days when Bafana Bafana were the laughing stock of our country are officially past us.

Not too long ago, the national team was mocked as a “bunch of losers” by government officials, chastised and shunned by fans and played in empty stadiums. Bafana deserved all the contempt at the time because they were struggling to win matches or qualify for tournaments.

All this has changed in the three years that Hugo Broos has overseen the team. They are now a transformed team that knows how to win matches. In this Fifa week, Bafana showed their commitment to win two matches — away to Uganda and against South Sudan at home — even when they knew they didn’t need the points because they had already qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations before kickoff.

Such a positive attitude is what long-suffering Bafana fans longed for — a team that takes every match seriously. Bafana under Broos have done exactly that. They are not merely satisfied with qualifying. They want to qualify as the top team.

That winning spirit is sure to help the team completely turn their fortunes around after years of hurt and torment, which included premature celebrations for false qualification, misreading of rules and failure to get results when required.

Now you can bet on Broos’ team to qualify without needing calculators to check permutations on how many goals or points are required.

The fans have also returned to the stadiums to support our national team. Almost all the games Bafana have played in the last year were sold out, with the latest in Cape Town against South Sudan, where they won 3-0 to seal the top spot in Group K.

Bafana’s upward trajectory is not the only thing to celebrate from this Fifa week, as other Southern African Development Community (SADC) teams have performed well and won their tickets to Morocco 2025 as well. We congratulate Botswana — coached by South African Morena Ramoreboli — Zambia, DR Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique for also making it to the 24-nation tournament set for December next year.

It’s been a while since the region captured the Afcon — with Zambia being the last team in 2012 — and now with seven representatives, we trust that they will all make us proud. The biggest burden of expectation, however, will be on Bafana after they finished third in Ivory Coast this year.

We have no doubt they can better that.

SowetanLIVE