Hugo Broos has been named as the new coach of the South Africa men’s national football team on a long-term five-year deal.
The Belgian is an experienced manager having an AFCON title under his belt and is due to arrive in South Africa next week to begin his new role.
This came as quite a surprise to many as it was strongly rumoured that Carlos Quieroz would be appointed as head coach for a second time.
Broos has an extensive coaching career that spans more than three decades, including spells in charge of Belgian giants Club Brugge, R.S.C Anderlecht as well as K.R.C Genk.
His experience on the African continent includes time with the Algerian giants JS Kabylie.
“South Africa has a rich football history and is among the powerhouses on the continent,” the 69-year-old told the South African Football Association (SAFA) website.
“The country is full of quality and I am coming to coach a truly football nation with massive potential.
“My main focus will be to weave in new players who have hunger and desire to achieve things. Young players are ambitious and want to prove a point.
“I need to start from there because I want to build a strong Bafana Bafana side for the future. This is a really exciting project and I am really excited.”
His first games in charge are set to be June’s opening rounds of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against neighbours Zimbabwe before returning home to play the Black Stars of Ghana.
The 69-year-old replaces Molefi Ntseki who was sacked in March after Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon.
Broos led Cameroon to the 2017 AFCON title in Gabon as they beat Egypt 2-1 in the final. Just 11 days after winning that title in 2017, the SAFA announced that Broos had applied for the Bafana Bafana job.
The job eventually went to Stuart Baxter and Broos remained in charge of the Indomitable Lions until his contract was not renewed at the end of 2017.
Soon after leaving Cameroon, he joined Belgian club KV Oostende as sporting director, which he left in 2019. This is the same club that features Ghanaian star Emmanuel Gyasi who is headed to Scotland to play for Steven Gerrard’s Rangers.
South Africa will be hopeful of renewed success under Belgian Hugo Broos as they will not be seen in next year’s AFCON finals, narrowly missing out even after securing 10 points in the group stages.
A strong showing in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers will go a long way but qualification will be extremely hard given that only the winner of the group makes it to the next round.
