Hugo Broos is a tough taskmaster. On an afternoon when Bafana Bafana smashed Zambia 3-1 to leave the crowd excitedly celebrating and feeling the country’s senior national team is ready to shine at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Belgian coach was still not fully satisfied.
Speaking post-match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, Broos was not as complimentary as one would have expected from the coach of a team that had won as consummately as Bafana did.
“We didn’t play our game today,” the silver-haired former AFCON winner with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon said. “There were good moments, moments when we did what we had to do – the forward passes that made us dangerous and that’s how we scored.”
But the man who led South Africa to a bronze-medal finish at the previous tournament in the Ivory Coast would rather his team had been much more aggressive throughout and perhaps scored more than the three they put away through Oswin Appollis, Mohau Nkota and Siphelele Sithole. That they allowed Zambian substitute Banda to find their net after captain Ronwen Williams had made way for Sipho Chaine soured the result somewhat.
“Mohau (Nkota, who came on at half-time and scored the second goal) was very aggressive and very quick. We didn’t do that enough today. We were a little soft. The tempo was not high at certain moments, it was not high enough. But that’s how it goes and it is better that it happened today and not at the finals. During the preparations in December we will be able to work more on that.”
Broos was, however, pleased with how the substitutes and a few of those on the periphery fared when he gave them a chance.
“This was the last time we could do that (given that this was Bafana’s final match before the AFCON in Morocco from mid-December). That’s why at half-time we changed a lot and that’s normally not good for the team. It’s important because there can be an injury or suspension. We have to be ready, that’s why we gave the other players a chance.”
Sipho Mbule won the Player of the Match award for a stellar display which saw him boss the midfield and provide two assists, and he credited Broos for having instructed them to be competitive.
“The coach told us it is not a friendly as we are preparing for AFCON, he said we must give it our all and play like we were playing in the qualifiers of the World Cup. And that’s exactly what we did today,” said Mbule.
“It was a very competitive game against Zambia, they didn’t make it easy for us before we scored the first goal and they probably analysed us.
“But we eventually managed to break them down and I made that pass to Appollis and he scored a very good goal. I am pretty much happy to be back in the national team and everyone deserves to be here, it does not matter who is on the pitch, we are complementing each other very well.”
Teboho Mokoena earned his 50th cap and thanked former coach Stuart Baxter and ex-teammate Percy Tau for their contribution to him reaching the milestone.
“It’s a very important day in my life and I am very grateful to have reached this because I never believed that one day I would be here earning a 50th cap,” said Mokoena.
“I am very happy and I want to thank coach Hugo as I started becoming a regular under him and coach Stuart Baxter for giving me my first cap. I also want to give credit to Percy Tau because for my first cap he was around and he was the one who told me that my time was going to come and I want to give him his flowers for always being there for me.”
Bafana will go into camp in the first week of December, during which Broos will announce his final squad for the AFCON, where South Africa have been placed in the same group as record champions Egypt and fellow COSAFA members Angola and Zimbabwe.
