Confidence and a better record give Bafana a shot in Uyo
‘We have proved against those teams’
Winning and consistent results in sport breed confidence and more such results, and vice versa.
Bafana Bafana’s dramatic upturn of the past two years under Hugo Broos, and an improved record against Nigeria over the past decade, will give the team hope of pulling off at least a draw in their 2026 World Cup qualifier in Uyo on Friday.
Before South Africans get cock-a-hoop about Bafana’s improved prospects though they should remind themselves that two decades of underachievement are not wiped away overnight.
Upbeat Bafana remain brittle, for now.
Tough outing
On the flip side of Bafana’s confidence, gained since their 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying away defeat to Morocco in June 2022, SA have lost two more senior games in 22, and the Super Eagles now know to expect a tough outing.
This is because one of those two defeats came in the 2024 Afcon semifinal in which SA pushed the Nigerians all the way in a 1-1 extra-time draw, bowing out on penalties. The Super Eagles won silver after losing in a classic final against hosts Ivory Coast while Bafana grabbed bronze.
Nigeria are missing talismanic Napoli striker Victor Osimhen with a thigh injury, but new coach Finidi George has plenty of quality at his disposal, including Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi, Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman, who scored three goals at Afcon.
Broos was asked about the challenge of mentally preparing a team mostly based in the Premier Soccer League, though forged into competitiveness largely via the use of a core sourced from Champions League-toughened Mamelodi Sundowns, to face a side with big-name European-based stars.
“The advantage we have now compared to six, seven months ago, is we proved that when we play against those bigger teams in Africa we can win,” he said.
“We won against Morocco [a 2-0 Afcon qualifying shock against the World Cup semi-finalists last year]. And you saw what happened at Afcon, you have seen how we played against Algeria [in a 3-3 friendly away draw in March].
“We are not afraid any more because we know what qualities we have. So on Friday we will go on the pitch and play our game. And we are not thinking ..., ‘ah Nigeria, ah Morocco, ah Algeria’. No, we just play our game.
“And, to have that confidence, it is very important [to have] played at Afcon like we did. If we had gone home after the group stage then you stay [without confidence], looking at those big teams with players playing in Europe.
“We have proved against those teams we are maybe not as good, but we can maybe get a result.”