Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has disclosed the name of the man he believes should succeed him when he finally retires after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Broos, who recently guided Bafana to qualification for the global soccer showpiece, reaffirmed that he will not continue his career after 2026, as he will be turning 74. Bafana were qualifying for the first time in 23 years on the back of two AFCON qualifications under the Belgian.
“Everyone knows I stop after the World Cup because of my age, not because I don’t like it anymore here,” Broos told the media during a roundtable session at the SAFA House. “If I was 10 years younger, you can be sure I would want to stay here for another two years, and it would be seven years. I’m very happy here… I’ll be 74. I read that I’ll be the oldest coach.
“It’s time to go to my family; they have made sacrifices in the last 30 years to focus on my career, now I must focus on them.”
WHO’S HUGO BROOS’S PREFERRED SUCCESSOR FOR THE BAFANA BAFANA JOB?
“I think the best thing to do is for Helman [Mkhalele] to become the coach after me, because then you have a follow-up on the same thing,” said Broos.
“When Helman takes the team, the way of work and the philosophy will be the same, with a little bit more African thing because I’m European. Helman 95% he thinks the same thing as me. It should be very good.”
He, however, raised just one concern about Mkhalele taking over from him. “The only problem with Helman is that he doesn’t have the qualifications,” he added.
Meanwhile, the AFCON-winning coach with Cameroon revealed that Mkhalele, a former Orlando Pirates midfielder, is no longer reserved, but now actively contributes to squad selection and all other major technical decisions.
“Nearly every time when we make the preliminary list, sometimes there is a discussion about who we will take, and Helman had to learn because in the beginning, he was a little bit shy.
“But I told him you’re not here to say nothing. If you don’t agree with me, please tell me. There are moments that I say I’m the head coach, we take this one, and moments I say ‘you’re right, let’s take this one’. That’s why I love to work with Helman. He’s a very nice guy, very humble, he’s loyal, and he knows football. That’s the most important thing.”
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