For a man who has always spoken his mind, Hugo Broos’s ambiguity regarding his future with Bafana Bafana is puzzling. A few months ago, the Bafana coach was clear he would vacate the seat after this World Cup, bringing an end to his five-year reign because, to quote him verbatim, he wants to go and play with his grandkids.
After Bafana’s elimination from the tournament by Canada last weekend, Broos seemed to have backtracked on his promise to retire peacefully, suggesting it was inadvisable to make a hasty decision on the back of a defeat.
But this can’t be a haphazard decision. It is what Broos promised, unprovoked. His contract has come to an end with Bafana’s departure from the World Cup, so we should be talking about who should replace him.
Instead, we are more in the dark, not least after Safa president Danny Jordaan said he would hold a private discussion with the 74-year-old Belgian to map the way forward.
This is unnecessary. Broos must simply live up to his word and depart the seat.
It sounds ungratefully harsh on a coach who’s brought so much joy to SA football, turning our national team into a competitive force again. But there can’t be time for sentiments. Broos has played his part and, on the evidence of Bafana’s performance at this World Cup, and even a few months ago at the Africa Cup of Nations, he has reached a ceiling.
We will forever be indebted to him for making Bafana noticeable, after years of decline, which culminated in failure to qualify for several Afcon and World Cup tournaments. We remember how, when Broos took over, Bafana couldn’t beat teams of lesser stature on the continent; we famously lost to Sudan when victory would have booked us a spot at the 2021 Afcon - but are now feared by even the mighty Morocco.
The star-studded Nigeria couldn’t beat SA over two legs in World Cup qualifiers. Undoubtedly Broos’s biggest accomplishment was leading Bafana to bronze at the 2023 Afcon in Ivory Coast. We must give him his flowers. He made us believe again.
But even the greatest of things will have to end one day. Broos’s tenure should, correctly, be declared over as he so wished months ago. Even with his success, he had flaws, many of which were exposed in Bafana’s last two tournaments. That we didn’t make a fuss of Bafana’s last-16 exit from the Afcon in Morocco at the start of this year was mainly because we were still caught up in the euphoria of a first World Cup qualification since 2002. But the fact is. Bafana were badly exposed at that tournament.
Even at this World Cup, a historic qualification for the round of 32 should not detract from the fact that Bafana spurned their greatest opportunity to go further in the tournament, losing at the last moment to a Canada side who cleared feared them. A tactically astute coach wouldn’t have retreated against that poor Canadian side.
We must also not overlook the favourable conditions under which Broos has worked. An expanded World Cup gave SA every chance of qualifying, unlike in the past where the continent was limited to just five spots.
To his credit, Bafana are in a far better state than when Broos first arrived in 2021. Whoever takes over will have a base to launch successful assaults for next year’s Afcon, and the 2030 World Cup qualifying.
Bafana are in need of fresh ideas to march forward. Broos will have known this, that’s why he stated it himself that he wouldn’t want to move beyond this World Cup. He’s fully aware that he can’t give more than he has. As the saying goes, a good dancer knows when to leave the stage. Let’s allow him to retire in peace, thank you
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