Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele and goalkeeper coach Grant Johnson during a special Bafana Bafana’s Send-Off at FNB Stadium on Thursday ahead of the 2025 African Cup of Nations. Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele has stressed the importance of starting their AFCON campaign with a victory, saying that will set the tone for the rest of the tournament. Bafana will return to the continental showpiece — to be held in Morocco from December 21 to January 18 — as dark horses, having been on an upward trajectory that includes qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
While Hugo Broos’ men and the rest of the nation share the belief that they should improve on their third-place finish from the last edition in Ivory Coast and aim to go all the way in Morocco, they remain grounded and cautious. Bafana are planning to take it one game at a time, starting with their opening match against Angola on December 22, followed by Egypt on December 26 (Boxing Day), before concluding the group stage against arch-rivals Zimbabwe on December 29. Having lost their opening group-stage match against Mali in the last edition — despite eventually finishing third — Mkhalele said they cannot afford to repeat that mistake this time around.
Mkhalele, who was joined by several of his 1996 AFCON-winning teammates, including Doctor Khumalo, Andre Arendse, Mark Williams, John Motale and Shaun Bartlett, during the team’s send-off event hosted by sponsors Castle at FNB Stadium on Thursday afternoon, said the current squad can draw inspiration from their historic triumph. “We have a good squad, and we believe in the team we have. It can make the country proud,” Mkhalele said.
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“We’ll work hard to make sure we win our first game — and use the inspiration of 1996. That year, we were said to be in a group of death, but we made sure to win our first match against Cameroon. “So we’ll go into that game with the same attitude and make sure we win.
We know, with all due respect to the other teams, that Egypt will be tougher opponents. So it’s important to win the first game — and the rest as well.” Bafana are in high spirits and determined to win the country’s second continental crown in Morocco. Their preparations will also be boosted by a friendly against Ghana at Dobsonville Stadium on December 16.
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