Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has identified one element that is a disadvantage for the South African national team following the disappointing run at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
Broos and his charges crashed out of AFCON after suffering a 2-1 defeat against Cameroon in the Round of 16 on Sunday night. Bafana failed to replicate the form displayed in the previous tournament that saw them walk away with the bronze medal in Ivory Coast.
The 1996 AFCON winners had shaky performances in the group stages, struggling to win games convincingly after conceding four goals in all three matches of Group B.
Bafana lost 1-0 against North African giants Egypt while claiming victories against Angola and Zimbabwe. They finished second in the group with six points in three matches to qualify for the Last 16.
With Bafana carrying high expectations to win the Nations Cup, the Indomitable Lions ended their journey, which has since sparked widespread criticism of Hugo Broos and the players.
Speaking at OR Tambo International on Wednesday morning after the team landed from Morocco, Broos claimed that Bafana needs more players in the top European leagues to be able to compete.
HUGO BROOS SUGGESTS BAFANA NEEDS MORE PLAYERS IN THE EUROPEAN LEAGUES TO COMPETE
Interestingly, the veteran mentor left out overseas-based players such as Gift Links, Luther Singh, Mihlali Mayambela, and Luke Le Roux in his AFCON and opted for the locally based talent. Shandre Campbell, who plays for Belgian Pro League giants Club Brugge was part of the Bafana squad in Morocco but as reduced to a wtaerboy throughtout.
“You know, as a national team, we can do better because when you see all these teams, they have players playing in Europe. We don’t have that,” Broos said.
“And that’s the disadvantage for South Africa, even when you play against Angola, they have players who are playing in Europe. I don’t speak about Cameroon because they are a brand new team, and you see where those players are playing. There’s striker [Christian] Kofane, he’s playing for Bayer Leverkusen, and he’s 19 years old.
“So this is the opportunity that our players need to have because they need to be challenged more. And I said from the beginning that the level of PSL compared to the level that we faced now in the last weeks is very high. You can only make that gap smaller when you have more players playing in Europe.”
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