Bafana Bafana’s final FIFA World Cup group game against South Korea is a pivotal moment where belief in the team and coach Hugo Broos is crucial for making South African football history by reaching the knockout rounds for the first time. Picture: YURI CORTEZ / AFP
Image: YURI CORTEZ / AFP
The time for planning and permutations is over.
Bafana Bafana’s final group game of the FIFA World Cup is here, and in the sporting religion of football, the purest form of devotion is belief.
We need to believe in Bafana. In Hugo Broos. And in South Africa.
We need to believe that this team is good enough to reach the knockout rounds of the World Cup for the first time in our history.
Bafana qualified on merit; they deserve to be here. Even after being docked three points during qualifying due to an administrative error, they still finished top of their group and booked their place at the World Cup.
That alone was a monumental achievement.
Now, while calculators may still be needed if Bafana fail to win their final Group A match against South Korea on Thursday, there is a theory that the first step towards success is belief.
Never mind that a draw could potentially be enough. Bafana need to know that their supporters have faith in them. Faith that despite results not going their way in the first two matches, there is still hope they can turn things around and produce their finest performance yet on football’s biggest stage.
Because that’s what it will take — nothing less than Bafana’s very best.
Fans do not want to see Bafana dominate possession in midfield only for attacks to fizzle out through a lack of creativity and intent in the final third.
Be brave. Take the shots. Ask the questions of South Korea’s defence.
Show South Korea why Bafana deserve to be at this World Cup. More importantly, show the world that Bafana, on their day, can compete with anyone.
History is there for the taking. Now it’s time to believe.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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