Ntseki reflects on Bafana Bafana's CHAN return after 12 years
- Martin T
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
Coach Molefi Ntseki has reflected on Bafana Bafana’s triumphant return to the African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals after a 12-year absence, a significant milestone for the South African National Team.
Bafana Bafana last appeared in the CHAN tournament as hosts in 2014, marking the end of a decade-long absence from the competition reserved solely for players within their domestic leagues.
Ntseki’s troops qualified for the 20254 CHAN by defeating Malawi 2-0 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon. Despite Malawi's 1-0 first leg victory in Lilongwe, last weekend, South Africa staged a comeback with Victor Letsoalo scoring in the 12th minute and captain Neo Maema sealing the 2-1 aggregate win with an 87th-minute goal.
Bafana’s CHAN head coach Ntseki expressed his elation after SA’s qualification for the tournament, set to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in August 2025.
“My voice might not be what I want it to be, but I think it is out of the celebration that we have been doing after we qualified for the CHAN tournament after a period of 12 years,” said Ntseki.
“This is for the country, this is for SAFA, this is for all the players that were part of the first and second leg against Egypt, the first leg against Malawi, and now the second leg where we came out victorious and qualified the country to go and play in the CHAN tournament.
"... We managed to play the game [in the first leg] until the 87th minute, of which our game management in terms of our concentration levels dropped a bit, and then we conceded from a set-play.
“But on Saturday [in the return leg], I think we were very resolute in terms of our technical plan, the application of each individual player who was on the pitch. So we really say thanks to the players and the whole technical team and SAFA as a whole," added Ntseki.
