South Africa hires Belgian Hugo Broos as coach

Published May. 5, 2021 2:04 p.m. ET

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa hired African Cup-winning coach Hugo Broos on a five-year deal on Wednesday.

The Belgian, who coached Cameroon to the African Cup of Nations title in 2017, replaced Molefi Ntseki, who was fired after South Africa failed to qualify for next year's continental championship.

South Africa has been on a consistent slide in international soccer since it was the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010.

Bafana Bafana have managed to qualify for just one of the last three African Cups and haven't played at the World Cup since that tournament in 2010.

"The information that I've gathered in the last few weeks and the analysis that I've compiled has made me believe that it is now the perfect moment to build a new team in South Africa," Broos said.

The 69-year-old Broos’ first challenge is to prepare South Africa for World Cup qualifying, which continues next month. He said a young South African squad might struggle to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but “may be ready” for the African Cup in 2023.

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