Ex-Bafana Bafana midfielder Linda Buthelezi has admitted that he got it wrong when he criticised national team coach Hugo Broos in the early stages of his tenure.
Broos has reformed the Bafana team to be competitive within the continent. They also finished third in the last AFCON edition that took place in Ivory Coast.
Despite winning the hearts of many South Africans, the Belgian was no darling to many when he arrived. This is due to his outsourcing nature, which ruffled some feathers. One of the biggest critics was the 1996 AFCON-winning midfielder known as ‘Mercedes Benz’.
LINDA BUTHELEZI ADMITS HIS CRITICISM OF HUGO BROOS WAS NOT SPOT-ON
“Look, I publicly criticised Broos when he arrived. But my criticism was more directed to SAFA,” Buthelezi explained to FARPost.
“But this old man [Broos] has proved a lot of people wrong. He has done very good things. One of my eulogising for SAFA was to make Helman Mkhalele an assistant coach. That was an excellent move.
“Yes, I did criticise Broos because I saw a lot of things. One of my criticisms about Broos was that when you are hired by SAFA, you don’t need validity from PSL coaches. That was my issue with him, so for me, I thought he was giving an excuse,” he said.
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“Our national team is so excellent. I wish the minister of Sports [Gayton McKenzie] could do what other ministers failed to do and encourage this team. For us to qualify for the World Cup or to reach the AFCON final. This is the best team that we could have.”
Bafana Bafana are on the verge of qualifying for the 2025 AFCON. A win in their remaining group K matches would secure the Hugo Broos troops a place in Morocco.
They are set to host South Sudan at home in November and also travel away to Uganda who are the current group leaders.
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