Bafana Bafana squad that represent South Africa at the AFCON in Morocco photo supplied
After watching Bafana Bafana against Zimbabwe the question that has occupied my mind ever since is this one:
“For how long are we going to depend on luck to win games in the 2025 AFCON tournament?”
I used to be a fan of coach Hugo Broos; telling anyone who cared to listen that Broos is a tactician who knows his players well and inspires them to play to the best of their abilities.
But now I have lost all confidence in coach Hugo Broos.
Because the truth is he doesn’t trust his own players and is actually preventing them from playing to the best of their abilities.
He encourages them to play defensively rather than offensively.
Broos plans his game based on the ability of the opponents and not on the ability of the Bafana Bafana players.
He fears losing more than he cares about winning.
He is like a man who lives his life constantly in fear of dying.
My foot…everyone of us is going to die one day whether we like it or not, and it would be sensible to live life to the fullest without constantly looking over one’s shoulder in fear of the inevitable death.
Broos continues to field underperforming players like Siyabonga Ngezana in central defence, Sphephelo Sithole as defensive midfielder, and Sipho Mbule as creative midfielder.
Mister Hugo Broos Sir…get rid of the aforesaid underperforming players and give Relebogile Mofokeng a chance as a creative midfielder!
Please stop this nonsense of yours whereby you play three static defensive midfielders at the same time while neglecting gifted players like Mofokeng who can give us attacking options.
Playing with three defensive midfielders is an abomination, and a taboo, so please spare me the nonsensical reasoning that other soccer teams worldwide are using three defensive midfielders as well.
This is akin to saying just because a deranged man has shot and killed hundreds of people in the United States of America then you can also shoot and kill hundreds of people in South Africa.
Upfront Oswin Appolis and Lyle Foster are not aggressive enough.
They are afraid to score, finish en klaar.
They resemble soldiers who have forgotten that their duty is to shoot and kill when faced with the enemy.
They resemble innocent, non-violent people who have been drafted into the army against their will.
Tebogo Mokoena and Aubrey Modiba are apparently in a contest to see who between them will kick the ball wide off the mark without posing a threat to opposition goalkeepers.
These two guys insist on using the outside of their boots in an attempt to curl the ball into the net without success.
It is only players of yore like Mlungisi Ngubane and Jomo Sono who could consistently score using this tactic of curling the ball either with the outside or inside of their boots.
Now to Mokoena and Modiba I am saying just kick the ball and stop trying to curl it stylishly because you are hopeless in this regard!
Ngezana and Sithole have been overwhelmed by the occasion since the first day of the tournament as they literally give the ball away to opponents out of fear of being dispossessed.
As to how long our luck will carry us in this tournament remains to be seen.
But if we get knocked out of the tournament we won’t be surprised, and at the moment it is clear that we are going to add numbers at the 2026 World Cup.
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