Broos Concerned With Ageing Bafana Squad

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos expressed his concerns about his aging squad, highlighting the urgent need to inject the team with fresh energy in a bid to merge youth and experience with major tournaments on the horizon.

The South African national team has been a force to be reckoned with since the Belgian mentor took over in May 2021. They even secured a third-place bronze medal in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

While he regularly freshens up the squad with new faces whenever an opportunity presents itself, Broos has always kept the core of his team. However, some of his most trusted allies are slowly growing old.

At the moment, the Bafana gaffer only has a few established center-backs following the injury of Kaizer Chiefs defender Rushwin Dortley, who was replaced by Thabo Moloisane, who sometimes plays as a right-back for Stellenbosch. Still, Broos takes no issue with his limited options.

“I think there are enough center-backs but what we see now is that they are injured or don’t have a passport. So, I’m not afraid [of] not finding center-backs but the only thing is that we need to find younger players as I said when I announced the team,” he said.

“So, it’s not a problem to find them [center-backs], they are there but they have to be available and that’s the problem I have at this moment. But we are strong enough with the defenders that we have, so for me, it’s not a problem at the moment.”

On the aging team, the 72-year-old tactician says the squad is slowly getting old, citing the defense as an example. The 2017 AFCON winner with Cameroon revealed age was a factor when he opted for the new faces in the squad.

“Little by little our team is starting to be old, when you look at the defenders, and that is all the defense, we only have players of 29, 30 [years] and older. So, that means little by little we have to start to get some younger players into our team,” Broos added.

“Therefore, that’s why these two guys [Rodney Maphangule and Moloisane] are here and [Khulumani] Ndamane also, is someone who’s a younger central defender but when you don’t have a passport I can’t call you up.”

Bafana will host Lesotho at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in the FIFA World Cup qualifying match on Friday, before facing Gernot Rohr’s formidable Benin side at a neutral venue in Ivory Coast at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium four days later.