The head coach of South Africa’s senior football men’s side Hugo Broos is hopeful that the South African Football Association (Safa) and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) can grant him his wish for a national training camp in November.

Speaking to journalists as Bafana Bafana prepare for two friendlies against Sierra Leone and Botswana, the 70-year-old Belgian said he had asked that his employers facilitate a training camp in November, when the league will be on a break due to the fast-approaching Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

However, there is currently a snag as the PSL have scheduled the Carling Black Label Cup around the period where Broos is keen to stage the camp.

The competition, which usually involves Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs before the season starts, was expanded in a once-off this season to grant four teams a chance of facing each other — with all the 16 top-flight teams having an opportunity to be amongst the four voted in by fans.

With Chiefs, Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns likely to fill three of the four spaces (owing to their large support bases), Broos said not having a chance to pick players from those sides would defeat the purpose of the camp as it would deprive him of some of his strongest players.

Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)

Put in some effort

The Belgian is hopeful of securing some decent competition for his side, with the World Cup-bound sides likely to schedule their final dress-rehearsal matches ahead of the global spectacle’s 20 November kick-off.  

Another consideration is that the proposed camp falls out of an official Fifa window. But Broos believes if his side is to improve, all the stakeholders must pull in the same direction.

“At the moment I’m more afraid of not having a camp. I know it’s a very difficult period. But for once you have to put in some effort. To have a camp in November is putting in an effort, from everyone,” Broos said this week.

Most important for Broos is also the fact that without the camp he seeks, by the time Bafana Bafana gather together again before their crucial Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier matches against Liberia in March 2023, it would’ve been six without the coach interacting with his team.

“I hope that in the next few days I will have good news about the camp. So that we can start organising it. We have opportunities to play against other teams, but who will sign a contract [when there is so much uncertainty]? Nobody. So, we have to wait for now. I hope I don’t have to wait a long time.”

Confidence boosters

Meanwhile, Broos also revealed that they chose these upcoming friendlies against Sierra Leone and Botswana with the hopes of bringing back the feeling of winning within the team.

The last time Broos’ strongest possible selection secured victory was almost a year ago, when they beat neighbours Zimbabwe in their penultimate World Cup qualifying match in November 2021.

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Since then, they controversially lost their final World Cup qualifier versus Ghana, before being humbled 5-0 by world champions France during a friendly back in March this year.      

That hammering showed how much further South African football still needs to travel in order to ensure that it reclaims its spot as one of the leading football nations in African football.

French superstar Kylian Mbappe beats Bafana’s Mothobi Mvala during an international friendly at Stade Pierre Mauroy on March 29, 2022 in Villeneuve d’Ascq near Lille, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

Bafana were then defeated by Morocco in June, as they opened their 2023 Afcon qualifying campaign. As such, the team has not known the taste of victory for months. Something Broos is hoping will change after this latest international window.  

“We chose these opponents because we didn’t want another big team, and to suffer another heavy defeat. We saw what happened in the past, after the defeat against Ghana. People were not happy. Which is expected,” Broos stated.

“Then we suffered a big defeat against France. It was a humiliation… So, we couldn’t afford to play against a strong team, then suffer a [heavy] defeat once more,” he added.  

His captain Ronwen Williams, who recently ended an 18-year stay at his boyhood club SuperSport United — electing to join cross-town rivals Mamelodi Sundowns — echoed his coach’s words.

“We need to regain our confidence, but it’s not a given that we will do this against either Botswana or Sierra Leone, because on the African continent there are no easy opponents, we will give our all. It’s about putting our best boot forward,” Williams said.

Bafana skipper Ronwen Williams in action against France. (Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

End the woe

Broos, who is approaching two years in the Bafana Bafana hot seat after ascending to it in May 2021, says he is hopeful that his side will play well in these two fixtures.

The Belgian said since they failed to top their World Cup qualifying after a strong start, he has noticed negativity surrounding his side once more. He is keen to rectify this.

“We have to regain the confidence for ourselves. But also, for outside. People believed in the team during the World Cup qualifiers. This has disappeared a little bit. You see, hear and read more criticism than positive things. So, it’s up to us now to reverse that situation and regain the confidence of everybody.

That will be easier said than done as the team is also plagued by injuries. Egypt-based duo, Percy Tau and Fagrie Lakay, were ruled out before Broos even selected his squad. As was Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who plays in the US.

Since then, striker Lyle Foster, defender-cum-midfielder Thibang Phete and new Sundowns left-back Terrence Mashego have had to pull out of the team due to fitness issues.

Nonetheless, supporters of the side will expect positive results from the clashes against the Lone Stars and Zebras. Something Bafana are desperately in need of. DM