Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says South Africa has to throw its weight behind coach Hugo Broos who’s leading the way in restoring the fortunes of the struggling 1996 AFCON Champions.
SAFA appointed the veteran Belgian tactician in May 2021 following the sacking of the previous Bafana mentor Molefi Ntseki.
It didn’t take the 70-year-old coach long to spot some imperfections in South African football which hinder the progress.
With him lambasting the standard of the DStv Premiership and the level of football in the country, many South African football enthusiasts took offence and lost trust in the coach.
However, Williams feels that Broos’ claims are true and insists the former Cameroon coach wants the best for the country.
WILLIAMS – WE NEED TO GIVE BROOS THE RESPECT HE DESERVES
“People need to understand and listen to the message that he’s trying to get across,” Williams said.
“I know sometimes it sounds a bit harsh but it’s the truth, it’s reality. I can speak for him because I have worked with him for over a year now.
“He’s an amazing guy, he loves the South African players, he loves South African people. He just wants to see the best for us and he wants the best for us.”
The Bafana skipper believes that the number of opportunities Broos has granted to the players who never pictured themselves in the national team jersey speaks volumes of his intentions to succeed.
“You can see it, the amount of opportunities he’s given to so many players…players who probably never thought they would get an opportunity and they have played,” he added.
“So, we need to give him the respect he deserves, he’s done extremely well, yes we obviously came short but we can build and learn from that.”
Bafana came back from a goal down to beat Mozambique 2-1 in the international friendly on Thursday at Mbombela Stadium with Bongokuhle Hlongwane netting a brace.
The second friendly will see Broos’ charges taking on Angola on Sunday at the same venue at 14:30.
