South African national team coach Hugo Broos is working behind the scenes to get Bafana Bafana to qualify for a major competition, but he is well aware that the process will not be a walk in the park.
With friendly internationals lined-up against Guinea and France, it’s clear that the coach wants top opposition to test his group of players ahead of qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Since coming in as the coach, Broos has given a number of new faces a chance in the national team, as he looks to find his best squad to build on going forward.
“The challenges, I think, [that came] after the qualifiers for the World Cup, we evaluated the team and saw that there were some weaknesses, certainly in the game against Ghana. The team was not ready to play such a game,” the Belgian was quoted as saying on the SAFA website.
“So those two games [against France and Guinea] are not really about the results but more about preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June. So, there will be new players, we will see if they are playing well in their clubs and then see if they perform for Bafana, which is a level higher.
“Let us hope that they improve the team. So, we are using these games to be ready for June and know that we have a stronger team than the team that played in the [World Cup] qualifiers.”
Bafana Bafana are due to play Guinea on March 25 in Belgium, and then they will play world champions France four days later, in Lille.
“These are friendly games, but they are more about preparation. These games are an opportunity for us to try some things. You cannot try things when you are playing qualifiers, you have to be sure when you put your team on the pitch. You have to be sure that those are the right players in the right positions. Now we can try [new things now] and we can see what those players are giving to the team. I’m thinking about Mosele [Goodman], I’m thinking about Shandu [Bandile], I’m thinking about Lakay [Fagrie].
“Those players can be an improvement for us. The result for me is not so important, not at all. But I want to see if the things we try in those games can be improved for the team or not”.
