Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has hailed the evolution of South African football that has seen emerging talent crack the nod in PSL teams.
For the longest time, teams had been sceptical in giving young players the chance in their senior teams fearing they would succumb to pressure and crash.
This has however not been the case with the likes of Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns just to mention a few fielding young players on a regular basis.
Players like Relebohile Mofokeng, Mohau Nkota, Ime Okon, Neo Rapoo, Mfundo Vilakazi, Mduduzi Shabalala, Kutlwano Letlhaku, Asekho Tiwani and many others have tasted first team football regularly in the past year or two with Broos admitting there has been a huge paradigm switch compared to when he first arrived in Mzansi.
“If you see how many young players are playing now in PSL, that’s a big difference compared to when I came here,” Broos told the media ahead of Bafana’s 2025 AFCON Qualifier against Uganda on Friday.
“When I saw the line-ups to the teams at that moment, and then I looked at the age of the players, you didn’t find players of 21, 20, 22, 23 years old. You didn’t find them.
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“Now you find them everywhere even in the big clubs. Pirates with [Relebohile] Mofokeng; 20 years. That was not possible three years ago.
“So, there is a positive evolution in South African football. But there are still some other things to change.
“And the only thing who can change that is first of all, the coaches, and then when the coaches want to change, when the coaches want that South African football is progressing, automatically you will have the league with you.
“Because the league are the clubs,” Broos added.
