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Returning to Mexico for a World Cup as a coach, having featured in the 1986 global soccer spectacle as a player for Belgium, is an ultimate full-circle moment for Bafana Bafana mentor Hugo Broos.Broos’s Belgium played host to Mexico in the opening game of the 1986 World Cup, and 40 years later, the 74-year-old will face co-hosts Mexico as a Bafana coach in the opening match of this year’s global showpiece starting on June 11.“Madala”, as Broos is affectionately known, has conceded that returning to Mexico was a special moment for him, albeit insisting his focus is solely on trying to help South Africa qualify for the knockout phase of the World Cup for the first time after three failed attempts.“Going into the World Cup is exciting for everyone because it’s the highest level, the biggest football event, so you have to be motivated and excited when you are involved in that,” Broos told SportyTV when Bafana landed in Mexico on Tuesday.It’ll be an emotional moment, certainly in the opening game, but the focus will be on qualifying for the next round.— Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach“It’s extra special for me to be here because 40 years ago, I was here with Belgium as a player, and we also played Mexico in the opening game at Estadio Azteca. “So it’s amazing that I’m now coming back as a coach of Bafana Bafana.”South Africa, who are based in Pachuca, face Mexico in the Group A opener at Estadio Azteca next Thursday (9pm South African time). Czechia and South Korea are the other nations in the group at the World Cup, which Mexico is co-hosting with the US and Canada until July 19.“It’ll be an emotional moment, certainly in the opening game, but the focus will be on qualifying for the next round,” Broos said before Bafana’s departure on Monday.“We have to focus on getting the three points as soon as possible because getting three points means you are 90% sure you’re going to the knockout stage [since the eight best third-place finishers also qualify for the next round].“It would be very nice to qualify South Africa for the knockout phase of the World Cup for the first time. We will do everything to achieve that.”Bafana face Jamaica in Pachuta on Friday in their last warm-up match before their opener against Mexico, which is a repeat of the 2010 World Cup opener on home turf.
