South Africa have been chasing their second Africa Cup of Nations trophy since 1996, but their quest to repeat the feat they achieved 26 years ago has taken a nose dive, and former International Lucas Radebe has advised what the country ought to do to return to winning ways.
The Bafana Bafana boys made their debut in the ACON in 1996 as hosts, and conquered the continent to win the title ahead of the other 14 teams that participated. Lucas Radebe was part of the team that won the AFCON title for South Africa in the 1996, and captained the national team during the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, as well as the 2002 FIFA world Cup in Karea/Japan.
Since the victory in 1996 AFCON as hosts, South Africa have been to the final during the tournament in Burkina Faso 1998 and lost 2-0 to Egypt in the final. They finished third at the Ghana/Nigeria 2000 and since, have only managed to reach the quarter finals on three occasions – 2002, 2013 and 2019. During the last edition of the tournament in Cameroon 2021, South Africa failed to qualify to the tournament.
Speaking during the draw for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Côte d’Ivoire 2023 was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday evening, Lucas Radebe, when asked of what South Africa must do to win the tournament in 2023, the former South Africa defender put the weight on the fans.
“To be honest I think the first thing is the fans must rally behind the team and that’s what we need”, Radebe told Thomas Mlambo during the the draw.
“I think we have had a great preparation, we been really a good team that can be consistent and can participate and compete in this level. We have the chance – I think now is the time that we can get the players together, it’s that time that
