Bafana Bafana legend Delron Buckley says the national team’s shock victory over Morocco has shown that South Africa can compete against the best teams in the world. Bafana Bafana registered a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over FIFA World Cup semifinalists, Morocco, in their last Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Bafana were expected to roll over against the more fancied Morocco on Saturday. But they surprised all and sundry and produced arguably one of the best performance under coach Hugo Broos.
Bafana legend Delron Buckley says they are capable of beating big teams.
“I was heartsore when Bafana was criticised for their poor performances, but beating Morocco I was very happy. It shows that we still have the capability to win games against a country that is probably one of the best in the world,” says Buckley.
The former Bafana midfielder says this show Broos is doing a good job with the team.
“And you can see the coach, Hugo Broos, is going in the right direction. He is trying to change things but at the end of the day, no matter what the coach does, it’s up to the players to perform because the coach can coach a player to a certain extent. When a player puts his feet into a field and represent his country, it’s him to produce.”
Meanwhile, Buckley and his former team Arminia Bielefeld from Germany were in Kagiso in West Rand to donate kit, equipment and conduct a coaching clinic at the Tsholetsega Public School. The 45-year-old is currently the team’s Abassador in South Africa.
“Bielefeld have been doing this initiative for the past three years, holding training camps for coaches and kids especially in the rural areas, and try to give this kids hope, faith and smiles on their faces.”
The North Africans are ranked first in Africa and 11th in the world, while Bafana are ranked 12th and 66th on the continent and in the world, respectively.
And Bafana should therefore be high in confidence going to the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early next year.
“It should give them a moral boost because Morocco is one of the best teams in the world and we performed well against them. So, it should be a moral boost for them when they go the Afcon. If you can beat Morocco, why can’t you beat other countries that are also good.”
Bafana qualified for the Afcon with a game to spare when they beat Liberia late in March.
Some of their performances in the group were not convincing, such as their 2-1 defeat to Morocco away and a 2-all draw with Liberia at home. And Buckley, who has 73 caps for Bafana and scored 10 goals, says Bafana should build on Saturday’s performance.
“This is why I was happy and fascinated by their performance against Morocco. They should keep this. Now, they have the mojo, they should keep this in all the coming games and keep on making the nation proud. We didn’t have the nation behind the national team because we weren’t winning games. This game should be a start. No matter which direction they are taking, we should support them 100%.”
Highlights of Bafana Bafana’s 2-1 win over Morocco at the FNB Stadium:
