Broos slams 'passionless' Bafana Bafana

by Staff Reporter

Saturday Oct 14, 2023. 11:00

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos insisted his team was unrecognisable after an insipid performance saw them play out to a 0-0 draw with Eswatini at the FNB Stadium on Friday evening.

Broos fielded a strong starting XI against their neighbours, but was shocked with what he witnessed as the King’s Shield showed far more fight despite his side having the lion’s share of the possession.

Even his substitutes made no impact on proceedings as South Africa showed no improvement in the second half and the Belgian tactician urged his players to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.

Broos’ side will take on 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast in Abidjan on Tuesday and he hopes the real Bafana will turn up for that encounter.

“There were many feelings that I went through during and after the game. Those of frustration and anger because I didn’t believe what I saw in the first and second half,” he said.

“I think in the first half we had one chance to score and I am saying this with all respect to Eswatini. We were lucky that we played against a team of that level, otherwise it could have been a disaster.

“I didn’t recognise my team and I had to make changes during half-time hoping things will be better. We were not playing 90 minutes on the same low level.

“It’s unbelievable because three months ago we saw this team play good against Morocco. It’s unbelievable that four or five months ago we saw this team play against Liberia.

“You can’t believe your eyes where you saw them against Eswatini. There was no passion, we lost nearly every duel, we played far from our opponents and we were lucky they didn’t score because that could have been a disaster.

“I said to the boys they must look in the mirror and ask themselves what went wrong. There are many things that went wrong in this game and let’s hope that it is a wake-up call for everyone.”