Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has clarified his comments on Kaizer Chiefs after Amakhosi head coach Molefi Ntseki responded.
When he announced the squad for the upcoming international friendlies against Namibia and DR Congo, Broos was asked why he snubbed Chiefs’ players. He said, “I’m very sorry, but for now, at the moment, there is no [Kaizer Chiefs] player that deserves to be a Bafana Bafana player.”
This brought up controversy among football enthusiasts in the country. Meanwhile, Ntseki also seemed to be hitting back at Broos when he said the 2017 AFCON-winning coach never gave them a “template” of requirements for a Bafana player.
Speaking to the media on Monday afternoon, Broos stated he’s responsible for what he said about the Soweto giants. In clarifying his statement, he mentioned that Chiefs didn’t have a good start to the season and had a handful of new signings still adapting. Thus, he feels what he said was not “wrong”.
HUGO BROOS CLARIFIES HIS COMMENTS ON KAIZER CHIEFS
“I have to be careful of what I’m saying, I felt it in the last few days that what you say is not only what you mean,” said Broos.
“There was a lot of commotion between me and Kaizer Chiefs, especially me and Mr. Ntseki the coach of Kaizer Chiefs. I’m fully responsible for what I said last Wednesday when I announced the 23 players, about the players of Kaizer Chiefs.
“I said first that they don’t deserve it to be with the national team. And when I said they don’t deserve it I didn’t mean they didn’t have the skills but that the performances were not enough [for them] to be at Bafana Bafana.
“When you see that at that moment, Kaizer Chiefs had four points in 12 in the competition. And you saw what the reaction was of the supporters after they defeated Galaxy. I don’t think that I said something wrong.
“Secondly, I’m responsible that I said something wrong when I’ve said that there are many new players and that it takes some time that everything is okay because is not easy to [implement] five, six new players in your team.
“And now I’m responsible also as I said that there was nothing changed comparing with last season. Kaizer Chiefs struggled all the season last year…I don’t know which plays in the ranking they ended but the performances are not what we can expect from a team like Kaizer Chiefs.”
The former Cameroon mentor voiced his outrage as he feels he was not quoted “correctly” by the media. He insisted he had no intention to criticise Ntseki.
‘I’M REALLY UPSET’
“I’m not responsible for the things that someone amongst you tried to put in my mouth, and I didn’t say. And I quote [what was written], ‘Ntseki didn’t change anything’. I never said that, and that is very bad, and I’m really upset about that,” he added.
“If you want to criticise the coach of a team, do it yourself. Don’t use me by letting me say things I didn’t say, I’m really, really upset. I’m here because I trust you and I hope that you quote the things that I say but not what you did now. And I know you did it.
“You can be sure that if I lose confidence in you and trust that you don’t quote me correctly, that my press conferences will be very basic in the future. And that I will not answer any more questions from you, this is very bad.
“Again, I’ve always taken responsibility for what I said, but not this and I mean, what I’m saying now, this you can’t do.”
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