Bafana’s Broos drops hint he could stay post World Cup
· Citizen
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has backtracked slightly on previous comments that he will step down as head coach of South Africa after the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico later this year.
Will he stay or will he go?
Broos’ contract with the South African Football Association is set to expire after the finals, and the 73-year-old previously said his age meant he wanted to retire from the game completely after the World Cup.
Visit somethingsdifferent.biz for more information.
ALSO READ: Bafana’s Williams – ‘It was a very painful lesson’
Ahead of Bafana’s friendly against Panama on Friday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, however, Broos indicated that he had actually yet to fully make up his mind.
“Maybe it was not a good idea for me to say that after the World Cup I should stop my career as a coach,” Broos told reporters.
“Let’s wait and see what will happen in three, four months. On the other hand, for me, if I should stop, I would stop in beauty. It has to be a beautiful end for me.
“We have to perform well in the World Cup. I will work as hard as I worked already the past five years to have a team at the World Cup that have good results.
“There is still a lot of work to do. I don’t have the time to think of ‘will I go or will I stay?'”
Bafana will play Panama twice in the next few days, also taking on the Central American side in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Bafana’s Panama test
Broos is hopeful that Thomas Christiansen’s side will prove ideal preparation for Bafana’s World Cup opener against Mexico in Mexico City on June 11.
“For us Central American football is a but unknown, the only team we know is Mexico,” said Broos.
“We were surprised seeing the games of Panama that they are at that level. When you see that they are also 34th in the world, that means they area good team.
ALSO READ: Why Mbokazi will not play for Bafana on Friday
“Our first game of the World Cup is Mexico and I think you can compare Panama a bit to other Central American teams. They certainly are in their style of play, so it is important for us to have that opponent. Also if we are playing a team 30 places higher than us in the rankings it is good test to see where we are, and what we still have to do in the Mexico game.”