Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says he’s justifying his squad selection after being heavily criticised heading to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Belgian, who endured similar critics in Cameroon before going on to lift the 2017 Nations Cup in Gabon in his first managerial role, came under the microscope from fans and media over his squad selection with Bafana.
Of the 23-man squad, 20 are based in the DStv Premiership but they have now reached the quarter-final of the continental showpiece after dumping Africa’s number one ranked team Morocco at the last-16 stage.
When asked by Moroccan media how he managed to achieve this feat with a squad dominated by players in the South African league, he said it’s down to hard work and instilling belief in the players he’s trusted over the last two years.
“I think first of all, it’s important that players have confidence, you get confidence from winning games and we needed some time to make a team, I got a lot of criticism in South Africa at certain moments because of [my team selection],” Broos said.
“But I knew what I was doing, I know the results have to follow, and even with local players now you see they can play at the high level. When they have confidence, they can do it, this is very important for South African football, making good performances here in such a big tournament, so let’s go on [further].
“There’s no secret, it’s just hard work. You see the guys now, they are ready to do everything I ask them [to do], they are training well, they are living from morning to evening to be ready for the next game, so yes it makes the coach happy to see that.
“And the results are following. You can’t have results without hard work and that’s what we’re doing.”
The Belgian, who said pre-tournament that he’s aiming to win the Nations Cup again in his second attempt, stated he’s not responsible for the win over the Atlas Lions, instead deflecting the praise on the players who will now face Cape Vede in the last-eight.
“I didn’t do it, the players did it [overcame Morocco], so I can just tell the players what they have to do, and every coach hopes what they are telling the players is the right thing. Until now it was always the right thing, but the players did what we asked,” Broos added.
“They fought from the first minute, they played very disciplined, and we knew that we will have four, five, six or ten chances today against this team – but when we have chances we have to use them, and we did. That was very important, that the few chances we had, that we could score.”
The Belgian has overseen 27 matches in charge of the South Africa national team, winning 14, drawing eight and losing five.
