South Africa’s head coach, Hugo Broos, believes there is a high probability that an African team can win the World Cup title.
Although Broos is cautious not to say that a team from the continent will win, he is hopeful chances are high.
“I think it is about believing in your ability. In the past, African teams perhaps did not believe enough when they went to the World Cup because they were facing the major European and South American countries,” Broos told the media.
“The confidence is growing in Africa that there are good teams and that they can have an impact at the World Cup,” he explained.
“It is probably too early to think that an African team will become world champion tomorrow. But it is possible. Some people say it will never happen, but it can happen.”
10 African nations qualified for the global bonanza, and now eight remain after Tunisia were knocked out in the group stage and South Africa were eliminated from the Round of 32 by Canada.
“It is wonderful to see so many African teams qualify for the next round. That is a big number. Hopefully, this is only the beginning, and in future World Cups we will see even more African teams going far because they are capable of doing it.”
“It is simply about believing,” he added.
Broos set to leave SA job
Meanwhile, the Belgian is set to leave his coaching job with the South African national team after leading them at the World Cup finals.
He believes the journey as the head coach of Bafana Bafana has been a marvellous one.
“Until now, I think it was a fantastic journey; ok, it started a little bit difficult. After that, I think we did a very good job, also the players; I’m still proud of this team and what they achieved in the last five years, so again, we think we can look at the past with happiness,” Broos stated.
“Be happy because we were at every big tournament, we have a (Africa Cup of Nations) bronze medal, and we were in the second round; now it never happened.
“So, I think the last five years were successful, and now it’s up to me to put everything together and see what I will decide in the next few days or weeks.”
Broos is an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner with Cameroon in 2017.
