ON THE MARK: Wishful thinking or a positive omen?

The last time Angola and Egypt shared the same group with South Africa at an Africa Cup of Nations tournament, Bafana Bafana went on and won the event!

It might be wishful thinking but maybe there is a positive omen from 1996 to take to the 2025 edition after what came out of Monday’s draw for the end-of-year tournament in Morocco, which kicks off on December 21.

The draw was not unkind to South Africa although with some more luck they could have landed up in an easier group.

Egypt, with Mohamed Salah at the helm, are the obvious group favourites but Angola and Zimbabwe are not to be under-estimated even if South Africa has a winning record over all three. Yes, Egypt as well … with seven wins to four defeats in past clashes with Pharaohs.

The last meeting between the two teams came in the 2019 Cup of Nations finals and was a sensational counter punch performance under Stuart Baxter, whose tactical approach was heavily centred around what he called “transition”.

Egypt were hosting the 2019 Cup of Nations and there was much expectation on the shoulders of their team. South Africa has scraped through the group phase as one of the best four third placed finishers after an unconvincing first round performance and were expected to exit the event. But a quick throw-in and serious of sharp passes sent away Thembinkosi Lorch for an unlikely 85th minute winner, crushing home hopes and seeing Bafana through to the last eight.

Angola are no pushover but Bafana have always had the upper hand in their past meetings while Zimbabwe and South Africa are in the same World Cup qualifying group, with a 3-1 win in Bloemfontein in June coming after Iqraam Rayners scored in the first minutes.

Of course, success at the Cup of Nations needs a dollop of good fortune along the way and much will depend on where Bafana finish in their opening round group and who they meet should they progress to the last-16. After that it is a free-for-all as we witnessed this time last year, when South Africa ended the hopes of runaway favourites Morocco in the last 16, then got lucky against the Cape Verde Islands in the quarterfinal and had Ronwen William’s penalty-saving heroics to thank and then should have won the semifinal against Nigeria but botched golden chances.

The 2025 edition promises to be as absorbing, if not more so, and South Africa have realistic hopes of making a big splash yet again.