When South Africa qualified for the finals, Broos was adamant that he would bow out after the global showpiece, which would bring him full circle 40 years on from his appearance as a player for Belgium at the Mexico 1986 World Cup.
He has consistently said the same in the intervening months, but is now singing a different tune, whether through genuine feelings that he may want to carry on, or to deflect attention away from a topic that is now being spoken about more often.
“You know, maybe it was not a good idea for me to say that after the World Cup I should stop my career as a coach,” Broos said. “And I also said at that moment that, okay, I can talk now and say it will be like that till the moment I have to decide.
“So, let’s wait and see what will happen in three, four months. On the other hand, for me, if I should stop, I would want to stop beautifully. It has to be a beautiful end for me.
“And that means that we have to perform well at the World Cup. So, I will work as hard as I have worked over the past five years to have a team at the World Cup that gets good results.
“So, there is still a lot of work to do. And I don’t have the time to think about, yeah, will I go or will I stay?”
Bafana will face co-hosts Mexico, South Korea and either Denmark or the Czech Republic in Group A at the global finals.
They face Mexico in the tournament opener at the Azteca Stadium on June 11.