Hugo Broos has sounded a sobering reminder that Bafana Bafana are not on the level they are supposed to be when it comes to international football.
Bafana finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in the Ivory Coast earlier this year, but they are outside the top 10 in the Fifa rankings in Africa and a distant 59th in the world.
Speaking when he announced the 23-man squad for this month’s crucial back-to-back 2025 Afcon qualifiers against Congo, Broos said Bafana are on the right track but there is a lot of work to be done to be a force to be reckoned with.
“South African football is the best in Africa when it comes to club football, and you see it with the Champions League and the Confederation Cup,” he said.
“Pirates were in the final of the Confederation Cup a few seasons ago, Sundowns have qualified for quarterfinal and semifinal stages of the Champions League and that means we are good at club level.
“But we are not good at international level because we don’t have enough players who play abroad and in good teams. Khanyisa Mayo and Elis Mokwana left South Africa but they are not playing.
“In 1996 when South Africa won Afcon, almost all the players played in Europe, and during the World Cup in 2010 there were nine players who were based abroad and they were playing for their clubs. They played in England and Italy. We don’t have them anymore.”
Broos also weighed in in the issue of the reported R114.5m prize tag that has been put on the head of midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who is 27.
“Teboho Mokoena played well at Afcon and there was interest in him. If it’s true, they asked €5m (R96.3m) and nobody will pay €5m for Mokoena. It is because he is only a South African player, and excuse me that I am expressing myself like this, but he is only a South African footballer.
“For a long time there is no history in having South African players abroad. You saw with other countries such as Senegal, Morocco and Ivory Coast, their players are all playing abroad and we don’t have that. We can achieve that by having good results with the national team.
“You saw what happened after Afcon that there was interest [in some players]. We are in a good way but we are not where we want to be.”
