Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is hoping that they will draw a massive crowd for their next match against Benin next month.
This is after his charges fought gallantly to record a 1-1 draw against Ivory Coast in Abidjan on Tuesday night. The SA entourage left Ivory Coast on Wednesday and were expected to land at the OR Tambo International Airport in the early hours of Thursday morning. They will face Benin in the qualifiers for the 2026 Fifa World Cup in Johannesburg on November 13.
Against all expectations, Bafana held their own and impressed at the jam-packed Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium, which had more than 20 000 supporters. This is after they huffed and puffed to a lethargic goalless draw against minnows Eswatini prior to the encounter against west African Elephants.
Broos’ charges applied themselves very well and had the home side in all sorts of trouble. If it was not for a number of wasted chanced, Bafana could have left Ivory Coast with a comfortable victory. Broos has now sent a message to Mzansi football fans to support them in their next matches, starting with Benin.
“As angry I was Friday, as pleased and happy I am today, I think South Africa played a very good game against a very good team. There was a good mentality on the pitch and they played good football,” he was quoted by the Safa media officers after the game.
“It was not only defending but the way we sometimes attacked, we put Ivory Coast in trouble. It’s a pity that we didn’t score the biggest chance of the game in the second half, otherwise it should’ve been 2-0 and we win the game. But ok, I said before the game to the players ‘try to have a result, but first priority to try to have a good performance’ and we had a good performance today,” he added.
Broos explained further: “We talked about it a lot but when you come to the pitch and there are 200 spectators to support you it was very difficult. Even today, there was a full stadium, all supporters of Ivory Coast but you know that gives motivation to players also. Again, I hope that for Benin next month that South Africa will support us and they will be in the stadium because it’s very important to have them there.”
