The appreciation Bafana Bafana received from the people who attended the team’s send-off ceremony at Standard Bank offices in Rosebank on Tuesday left coach Hugo Broos emotional.
The farewell event was organised by one of Bafana’s sponsors, Standard Bank, ahead of the team’s departure for the World Cup, to be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
Broos, who’s been at the helm of Bafana since May 2021, suggested that in his entire life he’d never experienced the love he received at this send-off event.
Hundreds of soccer lovers and Standard Bank employees sang their lungs out for the national team, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
“I am 74 years old, and I have been a coach for 55 years, but I can assure you that what I see here today has never happened in my career... I’ve never felt this warmth and support, so thank you for that,” Broos, who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2017, said.
All 32 players in the preliminary squad were present at Standard Bank’s farewell event. Broos is expected to announce the final 26-player team at Sefako Makgatho Presidential House in Pretoria this evening at 7pm, in the presence of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Bafana are in Group A with Mexico, South Korea and Czechia at this winter’s World Cup, to be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada. The tournament starts from June 11 and concludes on July 19. SA face Mexico in the opener, a repeat of 2010’s global showpiece opener on home soil.
It’s not yet clear when Bafana are leaving, but they face little-known Nicaragua in a warm-up match at Orlando Stadium on Friday (6pm).
Sowetan
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