Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos was tight-lipped on “some things”
that affected the players’ performance against Eswatini, as South Africa
were held to a goalless draw by the 144th-ranked nation.
Despite creating few clear chances and lacking motivation, Broos refused
to elaborate further on the issues that affected his squad.
“We will see in the next weeks if that is really a game that will put us
two, three months back again,” Broos said in a post-match press
conference. “I think it’s just a bad day and a day that is made by some
things, of which I don’t want to talk (about), I will talk with the
players about that but I don’t think it’s suddenly a lack of quality and a
lack of good players.”
Prior to the match, Broos revealed that the players had a disagreement
with SAFA over the payment arrangement for the Africa Cup of Nations
bonuses.
He hoped the issue wouldn’t affect the game against Eswatini and the
upcoming fixture against Ivory Coast.
“I can’t deny it, there are problems at the moment,” Broos said. “But I
know, with my experience, in the end there will always be an agreement.
It’s not really motivating that we have this before our game (against
Eswatini) and the trip to Ivory Coast. I hope this will not affect the
players’ performance.”
This isn’t the first time SAFA has had a payment dispute with its
players, as Banyana Banyana players boycotted their supposed send-off
friendly game against Botswana prior to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in New
Zealand and Australia this year.
The payment impasse was eventually resolved after the Motsepe Foundation
and Ithuba National Lottery donated a combined R8 million.
