Broos says he has the advantage of a clean slate

Starting on a clean slate can be an advantage‚ says new Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, while acknowledging he has a crash course to undergo on SA football before the national team’s World Cup qualifiers in September.

Broos‚ who was appointed last week and arrived in SA on Monday‚ was given some breathing space ahead of the qualifiers when the Confederation of African Football (Caf) postponed them from June to September.

Bafana’s first two Group G games are against Zimbabwe away on September 1-4‚ then against Ghana at home on September 5-8.

Broos told SABC Sport on Tuesday he has a sense of Bafana from when he met them as coach of the Cameroon team that went on to win the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The Indomitable Lions drew twice against Shakes Mashaba’s SA: 2-2 in March 2016 in Limbe and 0-0 in Durban. Broos added that coming into SA football on a clean slate also means he will not have favourites and preconceived notions about certain players or clubs as he goes about selecting the best possible team for the Qatar qualifiers.

“This is possible. But you know everything is about results. And if tomorrow there are no results, you can say what you want‚ it’s finished‚” said Broos‚ who wants to inject youth into the national team and rebuild it after their failure to qualify for the 2021 Nations Cup.

“So we need to know that — that it’s a nice project and whatever you want. But at the end‚ everybody needs results‚ including me.”

The 69-year-old Belgian said he will not have favourites when selecting his squads.

“I can make my choices. I don’t have to look to anybody‚” he said. “When everybody knows you‚ and you know the players already‚ sometimes a choice is difficult to make. I’m clean‚ for the moment.

“So, all the choices I have to make I will make because I don’t have to count on anyone‚ or whatever. And that can be an advantage for me.”

Broos arrives with an impressive CV‚ though his trophy-winning heyday at club level came in the 1990s when he won two league titles‚ two Belgian Cups and four Belgian Supercups coaching Club Brugge. He won another league trophy with Anderlecht in the 2000s.

SO ALL THE CHOICES I HAVE TO MAKE I WILL MAKE BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE TO COUNT ON ANYONE. AND THAT CAN BE AN ADVANTAGE FOR ME

Hugo Broos Bafana coach