Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says his selection strategy centres around the bigger picture for the team’s future.
Cape Town – Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says his selection strategy centres around the bigger picture for the team’s future.
The players that have been named in the squad to face France and Guinea in friendly internationals in Europe later this month will need to prove their mettle ahead of the start of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June.
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Winning will not be the primary focus when Bafana Bafana play Guinea in Belgium on March 25 and France in Lille four days later. Broos will also use the opportunity to experiment with player combinations.
He added that following the failed World Cup qualifying campaign he identified areas of weakness in the national team.
“The challenges, I think emerged after the qualifiers for the World Cup,” said Broos. “We (technical staff) evaluated the team and saw that there were some weaknesses, certainly in the game against Ghana. The team was not ready to play such a game.
“We saw that Ghana started the game very aggressively, and we did not have an answer to that. It was one of the things we saw, and therefore we began to look for other players and see where we could improve the team.
“So, those two games against France and Guinea are not really about the results. It will be more about preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June.
“There will be new players, and we will monitor if they are playing well in their clubs. After that, we can see if they perform for Bafana, which is a level higher.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos eyes bigger picture https://t.co/Dtf5IwKlfU
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) March 8, 2022
“Let us hope that they improve the team. So, we are using these games to be ready for June and know that we have a stronger team than the team that played in the World Cup qualifiers.”
“These are friendly games, but they are more about preparation. These games are an opportunity for us to try some things.
“You cannot try things when you are playing qualifiers. You must be sure when you put your team on the pitch.
“You have to be sure that those are the right players in the right positions. Now we can try new things, and we can see what those players are bringing to the team.
Preliminary squad ahead of the international friendly matches against Guinea 🇬🇳 on 25 March 2022 and against France 🇨🇵 on 29 March 2022 pic.twitter.com/85rmvzxoaR
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) March 8, 2022
“I’m thinking about Mosele (Goodman), Shandu (Bandile) and Lakay (Fagrie).
“Those players can be an improvement for us. The result for me is not so important, not at all. I want to see the things we try in those games can be an improvement for the team or not.”
The squad will fly out to Europe on Monday, 21 March, at the start of the FIFA international break.
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