Broos impressed with Bafana debutants

Broos impressed with Bafana debutants

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he was pleased with the debutants in their 4-0 thumping of Sierra Leone at FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon, particularly with one of them getting on the scoresheet. 

Mihlali Mayambela marked a memorable debut with a goal, while Luke Le Roux, Kgaogelo Sekgota, Zakhele Lepasa, Ashley Du Preez and goalkeeper Melusi Buthelezi all earned their first caps for the senior national team. 

With the plan being to widen the selection pool, and some of the regulars absent through injury, Broos hints that he might not make too many changes the next time he assembles a squad.

"It was the goal of the two friendly games, especially [against] Sierra Leone. It's a little bit similar type of team to Liberia - the way they play is a little bit the same, so that makes me more comfortable to look at the game in March next year," said Broos.

"So, we still have time to improve, we have to improve certainly, but I don't think we have to change too much the next time - we have to keep [the squad] together now as much as possible so that we create automatism and have relationships between players [improve].

"This is new, it was nearly a whole new group [that played] but they did it very well."

With his mandate to qualify for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations as well as the FIFA World Cup two years later, Broos says he now understands South African football and its players better to put together a solid team. 

"For me, when I came here, it was a totally strange country when you speak about football, so I had to get to know the players, scout and go and see many games to see who has what," he added.

"You have to choose [players] and in September, October and November there was not much time to wait and see [new players] - every month there was two games.

"So, after that, we changed some things but it wasn't right either and I think now with this group, we can go on. But don't be too optimistic and [instead] be realistic, this was a good team and not a great team against the opponents.

"I think on Tuesday it will maybe be a little bit tougher - I don't know, we will see. But we have to continue working, this is only the beginning. We have to keep improving, we have the qualifiers for AFCON and then be ready to go to AFCON because that's another level. So, there is still a long way to go."

By Mazola Molefe