Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams and his deputy Percy Tau are confident that the national team can go all the way at next year’s AFCON in the Ivory Coast.
South Africa will return to the Africa Cup of Nations, set to be staged between January and February 2024, after missing out on the 2021 tournament in Cameroon.
Williams of Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly star Tau believe that the current generation of Bafana players can create history and replicate the class of 1996 by winning the AFCON title.
In their last appearance at the AFCON tournament in 2019, Nigeria eliminated South Africa in the quarterfinals. However, they had previously caused a major upset by defeating hosts Egypt in the round of 16 at the Cairo International Stadium.
“We want to do better than the last AFCON. We believe we have a strong team when everyone is back from their injuries,” said Tau.
“You guys should look forward to this AFCON, and we’ll make you proud. The chance is there for us to go all the way.
BAFANA BAFANA CAN WIN AFCON, SAYS WILLIAMS AND TAU
“We don’t have to put other people higher than us. That’s the first thing we need to do going to the AFCON: to believe in ourselves that we can do it as well.”
“We did it before, but we could not beat Nigeria. The coach said that the group is difficult at the Afcon, but it gets better after the group. We want to do something that has never been done before,” added the Bafana star.
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Williams agreed with Tau, adding that the team is fortunate to have a coach like Hugo Broos, who has a wealth of experience in African football.
Bafana coach Broos guided the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to the African crown in 2017.
“We have a coach that has the experience on how to win it and has done it before with Cameroon,” said the SA skipper. “We can see it happening again, and we’re peaking at the right moment. He has his squad, and the spirit is high in camp, and we believe we can challenge and go all the way.
“We need to dream big. Why go there if we don’t believe we can win it? We have to get out of the group; that’s the main thing, and like Percy said, it becomes much easier.”
Bafana will face Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively, as part of their preparations for AFCON in Ivory Coast and the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.