MOGAMAD ALLIE: Bafana also-rans in supporter stakes amid Bok frenzy

Amid all the hype about the Springboks’ highly anticipated opening game at the World Cup against Scotland on Sunday, it was perhaps understandable that Bafana Bafana’s friendly against Namibia at the Orlando Stadium would be relegated to also-ran status.

Even though the Rugby World Cup is being played more than 12,000km away in France, SA sports lovers had all their attention fixed on the Stade de Marseille on Sunday.

That Bafana’s match against Namibia was very much a sideshow was clearly manifested by the modest turnout of just fewer than 10,000 at the Orlando Stadium and the relative lack of media attention.

The tepid goalless draw against the Brave Warriors didn’t exactly send pulses racing, making it unlikely that there would have been bigger numbers at Tuesday’s friendly against the higher ranked DR Congo.   

While the two fixtures may have been an integral part of coach Hugo Broos’ plans to prepare his team for January’s Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast and for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers that get under way with a home tie against Benin on November 13, to the fans it was just two more unattractive fixtures against unfashionable opponents respectively ranked at 114 and 69 by Fifa.

Broos bemoaned the poor turnout on Saturday, saying he expected more fans to come out to support Bafana though he was candid enough to admit his team may be part of the problem.

Even though the draw extended Bafana’s unbeaten run to a healthy eight games the coach had hoped his team’s recent good form would have brought more fans to the ground.   

“I want to play every game in front of a full stadium and I expected that there should be more supporters today because of the recent good results,” the 71-year-old Belgian said after Saturday’s game. “Maybe we have to play more good games before the public comes back to the stadium. 

Love lacks

“It will depend on us. If we are not playing well and don’t win games, it’s also difficult for fans to come to the stadium.” 

Bafana captain Ronwen Williams equally felt the lack of love for the team that probably stood out even more starkly while virtually the entire country is Bok crazy.   

“I don’t feel people speak enough about Bafana Bafana unless we lose. So when we’re doing well let’s hear that too. It’s not us against the fans — we’re in this together,” he said.

“Everyone wants to see Bafana Bafana doing well but we can’t do it on our own. We need everyone’s support. We need to do more to be out there and we’ll take the responsibility and discuss it with the technical team to say we need to do more of this. We need to mend this relationship with the fans because we have a good thing going on with Bafana Bafana and we need each other.” 

With the crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers due to start with a banana skin of a home encounter against Benin in mid-November, Williams is spot on about needing everyone’s support, especially that of the fans who should be the vital 12th player when the going gets tough. The road to qualification in Africa is almost always paved with home victories spiced with the odd win and draw on the road. 

For the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign, Bafana will almost certainly encounter packed stadiums filled with passionate home fans when they visit Nigeria, Benin, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. It’s imperative that SA fans return the favour by coming out in their numbers to support their national team particularly while  they seek to return to the World Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010. 

Of course, much will depend on the team’s performances over the next few months leading up to the Nations Cup and beyond. 

A good showing at the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) flagship event will not only see Bafana rise handsomely in the Fifa rankings but it would also make them more attractive opponents to the world’s and the continent’s stronger footballing nations. 

A good start to their World Cup qualifying campaign is also imperative to bring the fans back. It would be disastrous if the team were to be out of the running by the time the crunch return fixture against Nigeria, their main rivals in the group, comes about in September 2025.

Conversely, that game would be a guaranteed sell-out should it turn out to be a group decider. Sports fans, particularly South Africans, are notoriously fickle. They love to support winners. It’s up to Bafana to win back the hearts of football lovers by not only winning, but also marketing themselves more astutely. Taking the games to different parts of the country would help too.