EXCLUSIVE I Continental experience key as Bafana gear Up for AFCON, says Nthethe

Former Bafana Bafana defender Thabo Nthethe feels that the national team’s exposure to CAF Champions League football could play a decisive role as they begin their Africa Cup of Nations 2025 campaign.

South Africa will open their AFCON journey against Angola next Monday at the Stade de Marrakech (kick-off 7pm), looking to carry forward the confidence gained from a third-place finish at the previous tournament hosted in Ivory Coast.

Hugo Broos and his Bafana squad are still chasing what would be just the nation’s second AFCON crown, having last lifted the trophy in 1996 under the leadership of Clive Barker. 

After delivering their most impressive performance in the competition in over a decade at the last edition, there is growing belief that the team can take another step forward and challenge for a place in the final.

According to Nthethe, South Africa’s renewed competitiveness can largely be attributed to the increasing continental experience gained at club level, with Mamelodi Sundowns having set the benchmark by delivering consistent performances at that stage in the last decade.

“Bafana Bafana have been doing well since coach Hugo took over," Nthethe told the Independent Newspapers. “He has built a strong team that has been helped by the domestic teams’ participation in the CAF Champions League over the years.”

Taking a leaf out of their rivals Sundowns’ book, with Pirates reasserting themselves among Africa’s elite despite an early exit this season, and Stellenbosch FC making their second appearance in the CAF Confederation Cup after reaching last year’s semi-finals, Nthethe believes that consistent performances from South Africa’s top clubs are crucial for sustaining national-team progress.

“We now know how to approach such games. Playing continental football has been helping our football, and we need Kaizer Chiefs to play on a regular basis, even Pirates. We need our big teams to be regular fixtures in the Champions League and Confederation Cup.

“Stellenbosch are pushing and doing well, and the coach (Broos) is doing wonders by giving the boys a chance to come and play in the national team. There is a good, healthy squad and good competition among the players.”

The former defender has also been encouraged by the stability within the squad, as well as how seamlessly new and younger players have integrated, helping to strengthen depth without disrupting performances.

“Even players that are getting call-ups to the national team for the first time, they try to ensure that they do not take the performance of the team down because the team has been achieving a lot.

“Each and everyone that comes in wants to take it to the next level, and that is why we are getting the results we have been getting. We have qualified for AFCON and also qualified for the World Cup after so many years. It just shows there is something right we are doing in the national team.”

With the AFCON also serving as a crucial stepping stone towards the World Cup, Nthethe added that the tournament will provide an important measure of where the squad stands ahead of their return to the global stage for the first time since hosting the competition in 2010.

“This will be a good test for us before we go to the World Cup.

“Before we go into that tournament, it will be good to test ourselves against the continent’s best teams. We have faced some of the top nations already and performed well, so this will be another important measure.

“It will be an important tournament for us before the World Cup, and the coach will have a clear picture and a good idea of the squad he has going into the global showpiece.”