Bafana Bafana, Amaglug-glug
The united South African national soccer team came into being in 1992, playing Cameroon in its first ever match in Durban on 9 July. It was a triumphant occasion for the side that came to be known as Bafana Bafana - "The Boys" - as they edged the West African power by a goal to nil.
However, the win concealed the negative effect that isolation had forced upon the country's soccer. That lack of international exposure was exposed in qualifying for the 1994 African Cup of Nations. Bafana Bafana lost to Cameroon, Zambia, Nigeria and Zambia – the only time the national team has lost four matches in succession –as they failed to qualify for the finals.
In 1993 Bafana Bafana ventured beyond Africa's shores for the first time for a match against Mexico in Los Angeles. The following year, the team travelled to Australia for two matches against the Socceroos.
In the same year, South Africa hosted the inaugural Four Nations tournament for the first time, with Bafana
Bafana and Côte d'Ivoire sharing the title. Also in 1994, the first Nelson Mandela Inauguration Challenge was played as a tribute to South Africa's first democratically elected President.
Bafana Bafana secured the honours in the Four Nations Cup in 1995, and in the same year faced two of world soccer's powers, Argentina and Germany, in Johannesburg.
African champs 1996
South Africa hosted the African Cup of Nations in 1996, and Bafana Bafana proved they belonged in the finals when they defeated Tunisia 2-0 to capture the title.
Shortly after being crowned African champions, Bafana Bafana took on world champions Brazil in Johannesburg. The South African team went two goals up against their more fancied opponents before the Brazilians fought back to win the match 3-2.
In 1997 Bafana Bafana achieved another milestone when the team qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. South Africa also played in Asia for the first
time that year when they took part in the Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia. The team won the Fifa Best Mover of the Year Award for performances that had rocketed them up the world rankings.
On the world stage
In 1998 Bafana Bafana appeared in the World Cup finals for the first time in France, losing to the hosts – who went on to win the Jules Rimet Trophy – and drawing with Denmark and Saudi Arabia. In the same year Bafana Bafana appeared in the African Cup of Nations for the second time in succession, making it through to the final, where they were beaten 2-0 by Egypt.
Bafana Bafana claimed success in the Afro-Asian Trophy in 1999 when they beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 on aggregate to take the honours. The side also recorded its first win over European opposition, beating Sweden in Pretoria by a goal to nil.
In 2000 Bafana Bafana qualified for the African Cup of Nations for the third time in succession, reaching the semi-finals, where they
were beaten by Nigeria. The South Africans went on to finish third after defeating Tunisia on penalties after playing to a 2-2 draw.
South Africa qualified for the African Cup of Nations for the fourth time in a row in 2002, and came top of their group to progress to the quarterfinals, where they lost to fired-up hosts Mali.
It was in the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, however, that Bafana Bafana truly came of age. Coming off 2-0 wins against Scotland and Turkey in warm-up friendlies, Bafana failed to progress beyond the first round of the World Cup - but five goals, one win, one draw and a 3-2 thriller against Spain confirmed South Africa's arrival as a force in world football.
Amaglug-glug
The national under-23 team enjoys a high profile because under-23 is the Olympic age group.
South Africa’s national U-23 side made their
international debut on 16 October 1994 against Ghana. In May 1998 Amaglug-glug became the first African squad to take part in the 26th Festival International “Espoirs” of Toulon in France, and the next month saw them winning a Four Nations International Youth Tournament at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, with teams from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana taking part.
South Africa qualified for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but it was a disappointing competition for Amaglug-glug.
They went down by two goals to one against Japan in their first match, then raised hopes that they would progress beyond the preliminary round with a superb 3-1 victory over one of the tournament favourites, Brazil. However, the team suffered a letdown in their next outing, falling 2-1 to Slovakia and tumbling out of the tournament.
Amaglug-glug have proved to be a good feeder side for Bafana Bafana, with a number of players, including Benni McCarthy and Quinton Fortune, moving up to the senior
team and cementing their places as fully-fledged internationals.
And the nickname? Well, the prefix "ama" is the Zulu plural form. "Glug-glug" derives from the fact that petrochemicals giant Sasol sponsors the team, and that South African soccer fans have a keen sense of humour and a quirky way with words: Sasol ran a series of television adverts featuring a little boy playing with his toy car – when he fills it up at his toy petrol pump, he goes … "Glug-glug-glug", of course.
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