Hugo Broos provides gauge of Bafana Bafana’s progress since taking over

Hugo Broos has provided a gauge of Bafana Bafana’s progress since he took over as the head coach, replacing Molefi Ntseki.

The Belgian coach has been mentoring South Africa for more than two years now having taken the reins in May 2021. Broos never hid his feelings when it came to the standard of SA football as he was critical of how things were during his early days on the seat.

Under Broos’ guidance, Bafana came close to making it to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier Play-Offs. They conceded a dubious penalty that sealed their 1-0 loss to Ghana in the last match of the group.

In March this year, he helped his side qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations which will be held in Côte d’Ivoire next year. 

Broos recently named his 23-man squad for the international friendly matches against Namibia and DR Congo that will take place this month.

The 71-year-old tactician sees “a very big” improvement when he compares his team now and when he began his journey with Bafana. He feels the 5-0 defeat to France and the 2-1 loss to Morocco gave them some lessons.

Thereafter, he began blending old and young players rather than playing the youngsters only.

HUGO BROOS PROVIDES GAUGE OF BAFANA BAFANA PROGRESS

“I started in September two years ago with many young players and I got critics because I didn’t call other players,” he said.

“But that was the plan I had. Sometimes it went good, and sometimes it went totally wrong but you learn about those things. You learn when you’re beaten 5-0 in France, you learn about the defeat in Morocco.

“So, that was the moment for me to change a little bit my view on some players. I think I took the right direction in September last year and it went better and better.

“So, right now, we have that core of players who know what I want and that is very important. They have the right mentality, there is a good mix, of old and young. 

“We still have to be better in the future because in November there are very important difficult games and I don’t speak about AFCON. I know what it is, it’s very tough. So, we still have to increase our level.

“But I think if you compare this team now with the team two years ago. There’s a very big difference on every level. So, I’m very happy now with the quality we have with the level.

“But we’re still going to work to become better.”

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