Appollis praises Bafana unity after brilliant 2024

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos will jet back to his native Belgium this evening satisfied with a job well done in taking Bafana Bafana to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals. 

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Broos can focus on some family time and his favourite hobby of cycling in the Belgian mountains after a wonderful 2024. 

Bafana – From AFCON bronze to Cape Town celebrations

It all began with a brilliant bronze at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast and ended with a celebratory 3-0 win over South Sudan on Tuesday in front of a capacity crowd at Cape Town Stadium. 

Fans, it seems, have fallen back in love with Bafana, and the players certainly seem to have enjoyed playing under the 72 year-old Belgian. 

Oswin Appollis is one player who has thrived for his country this year, becoming Broos go-to man on the left side of attack. 

He was brilliant again against South Sudan, causing the away side no end of problems and picking up the Man-of-the-Match Award. Appollis waxed lyrical after the match over the sense of unity in the Bafana squad under Broos. 

“I have to thank coach Hugo for giving me the opportunity,” Appollis told SABC Sport. 

“For that I will always be proud. I just want to also thank the boys for today, everyone fought, and the fans also played a big part. 

“It is all about unity, at training the boys work together. We are group, no one takes sides. We always stick together, that is what makes us a good team.” 

Bafana’s focus can also be seen in the fact that they fought hard for wins against Uganda and South Sudan in this international break, even though they had already qualified for the Nations Cup. 

Bafana’s Appollis – we had to go and get the results and we did

Confirmation that they had made it to Morocco 2025 came when South Sudan beat Congo-Brazzaville on Thursday.

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“When we saw we had qualified for the AFCON, the coach told us it did not matter. We had to go and get the results in the two games and we did.”

Broos will only be back in South Africa in the New Year, perhaps as late as February, with Bafana only returning to the field in March, for 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin.