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Despite their third-place finish against DRC at the 2023 AFCON, South Africa’s sectional coach is slamming CAF for organising the tournament at the start of the year. Hugo Broos laments the heat in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan.
What do you think of your team’s performance at this AFCON?
I think I said it in the last game against Nigeria, but I was so proud to coach this team and I think everyone understood today why I’m so proud. It was a depleted South Africa team today. We played two games, 120 minutes, both with penalties. We played against opponents who had an extra day off than us. You have the atmosphere and you saw today that yes, we weren’t fresh, but when you see, when you see the mentality in this group, they fight for it until the last second of the game. There were players who almost felt tired, but they kept going. I think that means that today we win and deserve this victory. When you look at the game, Congo were better than us. Congo had more chances than us. I’m honest, that’s what I’ve seen, but again, if you fight for it like my players did today, again, I think they deserve it and again, I’m very proud of them.
South Africa are the only team in this competition to have played in all five cities that hosted the away football matches. How did the adventure go?
You know, it’s harder when you have to move every game. First the group stages, but then every game. Secondly, in every city we played, it was very hot, very hot. The weather conditions were therefore not good. We were happy to only have to play once at 5pm, so the rest was done at 8am. That was also an advantage. For the rest, the accommodations were good, except for a few details. But it was really hard. Of course, there were always changes of hotel, changes of environment, changes of stadium. It took a lot of energy from the players. But hey, it’s a tournament and you know it can happen. When you’re third, you forget all those things and you only think about one thing, and that’s that we did it today. Good evening, coach. We saw that you rotated your squad a bit today.
I just wanted to get your thoughts on the players you gave the chance to play today. On what? On the players. On the players you played against today.
First of all, we’ve already had some problems with injured players. I was very happy to have some of them back today for the match, like Tebo for Moquena. But it shows once again what this tournament asked of my players, certainly those two 120-minute games. I think the solutions we had in the team were definitely the best. The boys did it well. Again, they showed mentality. They tried to do what I asked them to do, but again, I understand that today was difficult for them. But it also shows that if we have the problems we had today with injuries and the player who was suspended for this game, we can count on those who were on the bench. A few games ago, I think after the game against Morocco, I told them that for me, I was very satisfied and happy to see what the players did on the pitch. But I was even satisfied and happy with what those who were on the bench did. They supported the guys on the field. They were very good supporters. In every situation in the game, you saw that they were sad, that they were happy, that they were screaming. And then you know you’ve got 23 guys who only want one thing, and that’s to win. And then it’s a little easier when you have problems, like today with injuries, to put other guys who you know 100% will play for the team. The last match of the season ended with the best edition of the AFCON, and your team is among the top 3 teams. But why didn’t we feel the urge to take this place yesterday at the press conference?
There was a kind of negligence in your words, also in the words of your opponent Sébastien Desarvaux. I don’t think there was any negligence, there was mostly fatigue. Don’t think that players didn’t want to play this game. I said yesterday that for me, a game like this should not be played because there are two teams that were very disappointed with the quality of the game. I don’t think the players were disappointed because they missed the final. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell the players that we don’t care about this game for a small final, we’re going to play. No, I think you’ve seen that. The players really fought. I don’t know what else to say, they fought today on the field to take that third place. We didn’t play a great game. If you count the chances, Congo must always win, always. So for me, it’s certainly not negligence, it’s mostly fatigue that has won in the team. And that’s quite normal, in a week we’ve played 100-120 minutes and we still have a 90-minute game today. In such a climate, such heat, I think it’s quite normal that today we take this third place on the mental side and not on the quality.
When you arrived in Cameroon in 2016, your first double-header at the 2017 European Championships in Gabon was against South Africa. I was lucky enough to be on the road when we arrived in Gabon. I’m sorry, I’m trying to do my job. At the end of this double confrontation, you let us know that for you, the only team you would like to coach, at least for this tournament, today, are you satisfied? Do you think that what you have done so far, you will do much more in the future?
In the last two years, I’ve been working a lot on the mentality and the style of play. South Africa used to be a very technical team that played in combinations. Not a lot of strength. They didn’t play or didn’t play directly. Sometimes we still see it, but much less. We’ve learned to play more directly. You now see deep balls. You now see vertical passes. You see the full-backs going up. There’s a lot of movement in the team when you’re fresh. Not today. So we worked a lot, we looked a lot for players who could give us that shot. So I think we’ve now achieved that. That everyone has understood that by playing in South Africa, you’re not going to win much. You’re playing well, it’s good football. But at the end of the day, what’s important is that you earn something. And we’ve learned that, but that doesn’t mean we have to think we have a very big team. There is still work to be done. There is certainly more work to be done. But the foundations are there now. It’s up to us to try to continue and improve this team.
So you won the gold medal with Cameroon in 2017. And now you win the bronze medal with Bafana Bafana. And you’ve only coached two national teams. So, in terms of competitiveness at this level, since you’ve only coached two national teams, what does it take for you to be that competitive? Does it also have to do with your experience as a former international? And I also assume that you are not surprised to be solicited with all these results.
When I was in Cameroon, I didn’t know what an African was. I learned a lot. I knew it was a championship for Africa. I knew the teams, but I didn’t know how the games went. And for me, the big surprise at the beginning, when we were in Gabon, at the AFCON, was the intensity of the matches. Each team is playing for its life. They only want one thing, and that is to win the game. And this AFCON, you’ve seen the small teams that are making a lot of progress. And they knocked out the big teams. But it was a very good experience for me when I arrived in South Africa. And when we tried and we did it, we qualified for the AFCON, I knew what I had to say to the players. I knew what I could expect. Also, in the previous months, we were looking for players who could play a game that wasn’t South Africa. Direct play, sometimes a bit of power, vertical passes. And I think we’ve found them. But now, with that third place, we don’t have to think that, OK, now everything is fine. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I think that’s the gist of it. And everyone now knows, when they play for the national team, what is expected of them as a player. We are showing the right mentality today. If you play all these games and you can do it today, like my team did, then you have the right mentality. So, again, the gist is there now. The players are here now. Even then, we have to work on it and try to improve further with our team. But we’re two steps further than we were two years ago. And I think that’s very important.
It should be noted that many African countries have changed players after this African Cup. There were also changes in Asia after the Asian Cup. You are a highly rated coach. You will surely have proposals. Are you ready to listen to them? Can we imagine you on a bench other than South Africa in the coming months or days?
You know, when you get results as a coach, when you play a really good tournament as a player, there’s always rumours and rumours. I can tell you that today there are only rumours. There are people who throw things that may not be true. That’s one thing. Secondly, I still have two contracts in South Africa. Thus, the one that will decide that Hugo Broos leaves South Africa will be the South African FA. Not me. I’m happy with my work. I’m happy with my team. For now, nothing makes me think it’s time to leave. There is still a lot of work to be done. But as I said at the beginning, it’s totally normal. This also happened when I was a coach in Cameroon. After the AFCON, there were also rumours. There was never any contact. And this is also the case today.
This match is played at 8 p.m. And you talk about heat. You’re not the only coach to mention this fact. Because there are a lot of coaches before you who have described it. The Senegalese coach, who hails from West Africa, spoke of the heat. When is the right time to play football in Africa? Or do you think this region (West Africa) is definitely not a good place? When?
When it’s cool. Exactly. So it can be midnight, it can be 10 p.m., it can be 3 p.m. These are things that… That’s the climate of this country. 7-8 years ago, when I was in Gabon, I never experienced this heat. Maybe, maybe… And it was true, I think, at the beginning, that this AFCON should have been played in June.
Because it might have been a little cooler. But then there’s the rain. So that’s always something. So we can complain. Because it’s really hard. It’s not easy to perform in such heat. But that’s also part of the tournament. And it’s the same for everyone. So we’re not going to comment further on that. You know, when you come to Côte d’Ivoire to play in the AFCON, it can happen.
We have heard that there is interest in you in North Africa. Are you fully committed to this project, to see it through to 2026? And what would keep you in this project until 2026?
So I said, I think it was in French, that it’s normal when you have results as a coach, when you play a very good tournament. Like for example some of the players among us. That there is interest from other teams. For a player or a club. For a national coach, it’s a country. I also had this experience when I won (the 2017 AFCON) with Cameroon. But most of the time, these are just rumors. The people who said something, oh yes, this coach, he did really good results. But in such and such a country, in such and such a country, they are looking for a coach. Ah, maybe he’s a candidate. I can tell you today, there is nothing. Really nothing. You told me, there are people who come up to me and say, yes, coach, this and that. If Hugo Broos leaves South Africa, it will be because the federation decides to let me go. That’s all. I’m happy with my work, I’m happy with the team. I’m not always happy with the media. But hey, I’ll take it with it. And we’ll see now. I hope that more and more people will support this team. Because they deserve it.
Source:Africa Top Sports