Bafana Bafana managed to seal their place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals without tasting defeat.
They collected six points from South Sudan, four against Congo and Uganda respectively to top Group K with 14 points.
South Africa's last assignment in the pool was at home against the Bright Stars, a team they had struggled to beat in Juba Stadium. It was not going to be an easy outing as the Eastern African nation had beaten Congo Brazzaville 3-2 in their previous match.
With Bafana having nothing to fight for apart from a top-of-the-table finish, it was easy for them to switch off. Nevertheless, the Belgian has revealed how he managed the situation and inspired them to a 3-0 win.
How did Broos motivate the players?
“I have to congratulate my team for the performance [on Tuesday]. Not only for the performance but also for the mentality this team showed all the game, 90 minutes,” he opened up to the media.
“During the pre-match meeting, I showed them a few results of teams who were already qualified but who lost their games, Tunisia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, what's the other one? I forgot it.
“They all lost their last games and I asked the players not to spoil the party today and that shows again the mentality that we have in that team. Those guys are hungry, those guys know to take responsibility, the big crowd, they couldn't disappoint them and they didn't.
“From the first minute, we played good football, there was a high tempo, and we had chances during the game, 3-0, I think we made people happy and this is something that is very important too.”
After winning bronze in the 2023 Afcon, Bafana are aiming at going all the way in Morocco.
