Let us not confuse improving a team with elevating South African football.
Former Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos. Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
History has no blank pages, and the benchmark for every Bafana Bafana coach should be winning the Africa Cup of Nations. That is the standard set by the late Clive Barker and his golden generation of 1996.
Whether Pitso Mosimane can emulate Barker and become only the second South African coach to win the AFCON remains to be seen. However, for former Bafana coach Hugo Broos to suggest that Mosimane will take Bafana backwards because of the influence of football agents is, in my view, downright disrespectful.
Mosimane is one of Africa’s most decorated coaches. Winning three CAF Champions League titles is not something you fluke your way into. It requires tactical intelligence, man-management, consistency and the ability to deliver.
It is also no coincidence that the University of Johannesburg conferred an honorary doctorate on him in recognition of his contribution to football. Broos improved Bafana and qualified for the 2026 World Cup, but let us not confuse improving a team with elevating South African football.
If we are comparing apples with apples, Barker won AFCON gold in 1996 and qualified Bafana for the 1998 World Cup. Jomo Sono guided the team to silver at AFCON 1998, while Trott Moloto returned with bronze in 2000.
Broos’ best AFCON finish with Bafana was also a bronze medal finish. That is a respectable achievement, but it still fell below the required standards. In the absence of tangible success, we tend to lower standards, create heroes out of those who achieve the bare minimum and Broos falls into this category.
Context matters, and the truth is that Bafana had qualified for the World Cup before Broos arrived. In addition, the 2002 and 2010 teams also finished with the same number of points as the current side managed at the 2026 tournament.
Broos’ saving grace was coaching in an expanded World Cup featuring 48 teams, which made reaching the knockout stages easier than in previous editions. Why is Broos eager to undermine the man who has inherited his job. Surely, if he believes Mosimane will fail, the sensible thing would be to allow him to fail on his own.
Instead, Broos seems to be suffering from a ‘no one can do it better than me’ syndrome. Broos had his chance. He did some good work, but he ultimately failed to emulate the class of 1996.
