"MOROCCO MATCH WILL BE HUGE"

South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan sat down with SoccerClub’s Mark Gleeson for an exclusive and wide-ranging interview on the state of the game in the country, and particularly the men’s and women’s national teams

- Mark Gleeson

Was it more a sense of relief than anything else when Bafana Bafana qualified for the Cup of Nations?

What I think was important about this qualification is that when Hugo Broos was appointed, he came into the position and said, "I don't want any 30-year-olds in the Bafana team, because I want to build the team. And if you are 30-34 years old, there's nothing to fight for. You've seen everything, you have achieved everything. There's no fire, there's no desire'. So, when he announced his first squad, I think everybody in the country was shocked because his young boys were not known to the public. So, they were very sceptical. But as we moved along. we had 11 matches unbeaten. And then, of course, there was a setback with a match against Ghana. But we bounced back again, beat a number of teams, and then had to win the match in Liberia. I went to speak to the players and I said "Monrovia, Liberia is a time for you to go back and to fight, because of course we had a setback, but every setback needs a comeback. And you have to show your commitment, your fight for that comeback". So, they left determined to qualify. And qualification in African football is difficult. You must know, away from home, you cannot play pretty football. And the coach realised that, so he made five changes and picked fighters for the conditions. When they eventually won the match, it was a good celebration.

What mark out of 10 do you give Broos? Are you happy with his work so far?