Bafana Bafana qualifying for the African Cup of Nations tournament was a major achievement for a man who crept into South African football, basically unknown.
Hugo Broos was not one of the big names in World football when he decided to take on the hapless Bafana Bafana team, who were still costumed with the likes of Ithumeleng Khune, Bernard Parker and some other has beens who should have been sent packing ages ago.
But who is Bafana Bafana’s latest hero and more importantly, where did this dude come from?
Hugo Henri Broos was born on the 10 April in 1952 and he became a Belgian professional football manager and player.
Broos started his football career in his hometown of Humbeek, playing for KFC Humbeek after being discovered at the early age of 18 by a scout from RSC Anderlecht.
For more than 10 years, he was their central defender, guiding them to three European trophies, three national championships and four Belgian Cups.
Between 1974 and 1986, Broos went on to represent Belgium, gaining 24 caps and finishing fourth at the World Cup in Mexico in 1986.
In 1983, he switched teams and started playing for Club Brugge, where he stayed for five seasons.
During his time at the club, Broos helped win the Belgian Cup in 1986 and the championship in 1988. In 1988, Broos retired from professional footballer.
During his playing career, he has won the Belgian Cup five times with two of Belgium's biggest clubs.
He managed clubs such Trabzonspor, Club Brugge, Anderlecht and, in 2012, the national team for Cameroon, leading to them to victory in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Broos took the role of sporting director of K.V. Oostende after being laid-off as Cameroon's coach back in February 2018.
In May 2021, Broos accepted one of the hardest jobs in world football at the time, becoming manager of the South Africa national team.
Broos has already led the boys to a third-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, so he could be improving that result at the next one.
Now that we know the man behind it all, pulling the strings to bring back the glory days of South African football, we should feel a bit more confident in his approach.
Confidence is what Bafana Bafana oozes at the moment and it’s mainly down to Broos bringing that elite mentality to the team.
I could speak of players all day, which often happens, but this time, I feel Broos deserves a mention on his own.
Often cool, calm and collected, jumping out of character when things are not exactly going his way, but on the pitch, the boys are playing some of the most attractive football at the moment and putting their hands up among Africa’s finest.
At the next tournament, GoalMOUTH feels confident that the boys will bring home the glory and make a nation proud, like the peers over at the Springboks.
DISCLAIMER: These are the views of GoalMOUTH, if you don’t like them, great, I’d like to hear why.
So step into my GOAL and don’t mind to watch your MOUTH! 🙂
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