Some SA football followers got hot under the collar after new Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos confirmed his squad for 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Ghana next month.
These fans believe the Belgian was a little harsh in dumping almost all the players who’ve been in the team in the past six or more years.
Those discarded include Thulani Serero, former skipper Thulani Hlatshwayo, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Bongani Zungu, Dean Furman, Themba Zwane and Itumeleng Khune, while striker Percy Tau, goalkeeper Ronwen Williams and defender Siyanda Xulu survived.
Announcing his squad last week, before cutting it down to 23 on Tuesday, Broos made it clear that while it is not completely over for the regulars he didn’t pick, he is keen to refresh and build the team with new and younger players.
I see nothing wrong with Broos’s approach. In fact, I back him 100% because I believe it’s the way to go and well overdue after many previous Bafana mentors got cold feet when it came to effecting changes to the squad.
I think Broos is doing what should have started with Stuart Baxter as far back as 2017. Even Gordon Igesund, who replaced Pitso Mosimane in 2013, and Shakes Mashaba, who came after him, should have been far braver than they were with their selections.
For the past four years the two former Bafana coaches, Baxter and Broos’s predecessor, Molefi Ntseki, found no reason or showed no guts to do what Broos is doing in his very first match.
He’s got balls of steel this Belgian and he seems not to take cues from those SA Football Association (Safa) suits who have a tendency to want to influence whoever they appoint as Bafana coach.
The players some people are crying for were part of the teams that failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), 2018 World Cup, bombed out in quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 under Baxter and failed to book a place in next year’s Afcon with Ntseki.
What more are we really expecting out of them? They tried their best and unfortunately they’re not a group of players we’ll fondly remember. Some, such as Khune, were part of the 2010 World Cup squad that failed to deliver on home soil, exiting in the first round.
The last time Bafana really had a coach who was prepared to make major changes was in 1998. This was when Jomo Sono replaced the most successful Bafana coach, Clive Barker, a few weeks before the kick-off of the 1998 Afcon in Egypt, where Bafana started as defending champions.
What Broos is looking to do with Bafana should not be a complete surprise, given what he did with Cameroon during his spell in the West African country between 2016 and 2017.
In young players that include Bruce Bvuma, Sibusiso Mabiliso, Yusuf Maart, Tebogo Mokoena, Sipho Mbule, Gift Links, Evidence Makgopa, Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Luther Singh, Broos is blooding players whose elevation or introduction to Bafana should have taken place years ago.
After making these types of changes with Cameroon, Broos went on to win the 2017 Afcon with the Indomitable Lions and some still believe he should have been kept there for much longer than he was.
The last time Bafana really had a coach who was prepared to make major changes was in 1998. This was when Jomo Sono replaced the most successful Bafana coach, Clive Barker, a few weeks before the kickoff of the 1998 Afcon in Egypt, where Bafana started as defending champions.
Then, a 20-year-old Benni McCarthy announced himself to the world in Sono’s Afcon team that finished as runners-up to Egypt.
McCarthy was one of those young guns Barker was afraid to pick for Bafana, but in his first few matches the Cape Town-born striker scored four goals against Namibia in the 1998 Afcon, a record which is yet to be erased, alongside that of being an all-time leading scorer for the national team.
With SA yearning for players of McCarthy’s calibre, introduced at a young age to the big time, we simply have to applaud Broos for his bravery.
But while doing that we should also not expect things to go smoothly from the world go. Broos has warned us about expecting Bafana to qualify for next year’s World Cup, asking us to be patient and perhaps “kill” him if his team fails to qualify for the 2023 Afcon.
As difficult as that might be, I think we must brace ourselves for failing to make it to Qatar and pay more attention to what Broos is trying to do with this team, starting from next month’s game.
We must also understand that Broos is taking on this job when SA football looks to be at its lowest as far as performances on the field, be it in the professional PSL or elsewhere.
We should not forget that we’re not world-beaters and our development of young players lacks fundamental ingredients many international and local coaches have been pointing out for years.
It will be a pity if some people expect Broos to provide us with a quick fix. It takes years to develop a winning system at international football level and nothing will be different with Broos and Bafana.
But at least we should be grateful that at last we have a coach who’s definitely not afraid to bring in much-needed changes to this team.
We can only say good luck to the boys and their brave Broos.
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