MAHLATSE MPHAHLELE | Honest reflection needed in postmortem of Bafana’s Afcon fiasco

The inquest has started as the fallout gains momentum from Bafana Bafana’s disappointing elimination from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) at the last 16 stage on Sunday.

Bafana being dumped out of the tournament by Cameroon in a 2-1 defeat in Rabat on Sunday night has left more questions than answers, and coach Hugo Broos has promised a thorough evaluation of what went wrong in Morocco.

There are those who are calling for the coach to be fired, but that is a notion that would not be ideal given that the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada in June and July is less than six months away.

Firing Broos now would only make things worse because there is hardly any time before the March friendly matches and the World Cup in June for a new coach to come in and be successful.

There are those who have apportioned blame on some members of the backroom staff for not providing the necessary high-level support to the team to function better.

When Broos complained the team trained 45 minutes away from their hotel in Rabat last week leading up to the Cameroon match, the Confederation of African Football responded by saying Bafana’s team management had had the opportunity to make changes to their schedule and did not.

Some have questioned whether the squad is strong enough to compete at this elite level, where opposition teams have quality players turning out at a high level for clubs around the world.

Just by looking at the Cameroon XI that started on Sunday, it stands out that one player is based in Africa and the rest are with teams like Stoke City in England, FC Lorient and AJ Auxerre in France, Brighton & Hove and Albion and Manchester United in England, and Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

Bafana finished third in the Ivory Coast early in 2024 with a team largely made up of locally based players, but there is no denying the value of having the bulk of your team playing for top clubs around the world.

South Africa has a number of players abroad but we don’t survey or use enough of those. In Bafana’s starting line-up on Sunday night, only Siyabonga Ngezana of FCSB in Romania, Samukele Kabini of Molde FK in Norway and Lyle Foster of Burnley in England were based abroad.

Mbekezeli Mbokazi is on his way to the US to join Chicago Fire in the MLS while in the squad Tylon Smith is with Queens Park Rangers in England, Shandre Campbell turns out for Club Brugge in Belgium, Sphephelo Sithole plays for CD Tondela in Portugal and Elias Mokwana and Mohau Nkota are with Al-Hazem and Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia.

Some supporters are calling for Broos to get extra help on the bench with another assistant coach to offer more technical expertise given the demands of modern football.

It goes without saying Broos enjoys working with Bafana legend Helman Mkhalele, but there have been matches where the team was exposed by tactically superior opponents.

Broos took two analysts to this tournament, and that was a commendable move, but there are growing calls to further boost the technical team with someone like a set-piece coach because this is an area in which Bafana often struggles.

The elimination is disappointing, but it might serve as a blessing in disguise and timely wake-up call for Broos, the South African Football Association (Safa) and the players ahead of the World Cup.

There is a sense the players came here to Morocco thinking it was going to be easy because of their Ivory Coast success. The setback will bring them down to earth, important because the World Cup will be a whole new story.

Over the past few months, Broos has continuously ignored South African players who have done well overseas, such as Thembinkosi Lorch at Wydad Casablanca and Gift Links of Danish Superliga club Aarhus GF.

Going to the World Cup, the feeling is he must reconsider his stance and cast his net wide to look closer at other players who are doing well for clubs globally to offer options.

These are some of the questions that have been asked by disappointed South Africans and they are entitled to ask them because this is their team, and it was strangely lacklustre at this tournament.

Broos has promised a comprehensive postmortem, but that process is going to be a waste of time if it is not accompanied by introspection and serious consequences for those who fell short in executing their duties.

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