Former Bafana Bafana defender Siyabonga Sangweni believes there is a correlation between the national team’s style of play and the low turnouts at their games.
Bafana won their international friendly clashes against Sierra Leone and Botswana at FNB Stadium in Soweto recently but the sorry sight of Hugo Broos’ troops competing in front of a small crowd has resulted in Sangweni sharing his views about football culture in South Africa.
The national team has been struggling for over a decade to quality for major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup.
And on the African continent, Bafana have fallen down the perking order as a powerhouse having failed to win the Aftrica Cup of Nations in about 27 years.
THE BAFANA ISSUE
Bafana’s poor performances have contributed to the decline of supporters coming out in numbers to stadiums with coach Hugo Broos recently admitting that no one wants to show a team that doesn’t win matches.
The SA Football Assocation (SAFA) has appointed different coaches over the last few years, from Pitso Mosimane, Stuart Baxter, Molefi Ntseki to now Broos.
Broos, who has been the Bafana coach since 2021 has been tasked with rebuilding the squad and quality for AFCON and the World Cup.
SANGWENI WEIGHS IN ON THE PROBLEM
Sangweni says SA has lost its culture and the hiring of European coaches keeps
on damaging SA football.
“In my view, we must know our culture, Doctor Khumalo once spoke about not believing in our own people,” Sangweni told FARPost.
“He asked how many foreign coaches have brought success in the national team? None.
“Why can’t we get our own to be in charge, we are very good in terms of talent, but the challenge is that we focus more on bringing outsiders, to influence us and they don’t understand our football.”
The former Orlando Pirates captain has attributed the poor stadium attendance to Bafana’s loss of identity as the supporters can no longer relate to the football played by the current generation.
“That is one of the reasons we don’t see full crowds in stadiums, there’s nothing for them to watch because we’ve lost our identity,” he said.
“We cannot expect fans to come to support the team, that does not play good football.”
