Broos announced as new Bafana Bafana coach
Following rife speculation
as to who will succeed Molefi Ntseki at the helm of Bafana Bafana, the South
African Football Association announced on Wednesday that Belgian Hugo Broos will take over
as the new national coach.
The AFCON winning coach hasn’t coached at international level since 2018 and has been in Belgium with Oostende as the head coach and then most recently as the technical director before he was snapped up by SAFA on what is believed to be a five-year deal.
Bafana Bafana’s journey to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will probably start in September given the expected delay to the start of the qualifiers and this will give Broos a chance to get to know his players for a few months before they begin playing.
It isn’t confirmed when the coach will arrive in the country to begin his tenure due to potential Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The announcement of the new coach on Wednesday was problematic in that Broos was unable to answer questions during the press conference.
SAFA CEO Tebogo Motlanthe was happy that they managed to get to Broos as the final candidate after a process that included over 200 applicants.
“We managed to narrow it down to five names and then we engaged with those managers and settled on Hugo Broos as the new national coach,” Motlanthe said.
“The fact that he can work with young players and his passion of working with young players was important for us.
“He has watched our games and has also been able to pick where we are going wrong and we believe that the plan that he will be coming with will get us back to where we belong.”
Given the short period of time until Bafana get into World Cup qualification, Motlanthe believed they needed to make a swift but educated decision.
“We needed someone who is ready and knows the arena and we needed someone who has experience at that level running a team.
“He will come into the role with one assistant and he will have one local assistant so there will be the transfer of knowledge as always.”
Should the World Cup qualifiers be delayed as expected then Bafana will start their journey in September in Group G alongside Zimbabwe, Ghana and Ethiopia.
