19th February 2024
That is a semifinal berth and podium finish at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Johnson says the bronze medal Bafana returned with from Côte d'Ivoire is reflective of the hard work Broos, his technical team, and the players put into achieving this result.
"When I started watching the AFCON, I thought the physicality of the other African countries would be a problem for us but you know, respect to the boys that left to represent South Africa, I thought they did very, very well. To the coach, I think you must give credit for getting the players or getting the country a medal which is bronze. We haven't had or we weren't in the medal standings for a long, long time," Johnson said.
For the first time since South Africa’s readmission to international football, there was not a single Chiefs player in the final Bafana squad playing at the AFCON.
In the next AFCON tournament set for Morocco, Johnson is hoping the national team will go one step further with Chiefs well represented too.
"So, where we've ended in this AFCON, I think it's many, many steps forward and we'd like to wish them all the best and thank you very much for representing us well. Hopefully, the next AFCON we're able to go a little bit further maybe to the silver or the gold but for sure, I think we will have a lot more Kaizer Chiefs players."