Premier Soccer League (PSL) veteran coach and ex-Bafana gaffer Steve Komphela had some fiery words for current incumbent Hugo Broos following his pressroom meltdown, on Tuesday.
Steve Komphela attacks Hugo Broos in Twitter rant
The start of South Africa’s campaign in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (2023 AFCON) qualifiers was shambolic, to say the least. It seems the national team’s woes following the brutal exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers continued when they suffered an away defeat to Morocco, on Thursday, 9 June 2022.
The trip back home must have been long and arduous for the dejected squad, because at his first press conference, Broos unleashed venom on the state of South African football, from the work of the South African Football Association (SAFA) to the quality of players groomed by the PSL.
“It’s time now to face the real problem. And what is the real problem of South Africa? It is that we don’t have those high-quality players, like our last three opponents, Ghana, France and Morocco,” he said.
The Belgian veteran coach, who lifted the AFCON title with Cameroon back in 2017, compared his starting XI, most of which is made up of PSL players, against Morocco, where “there was only one player, the goalkeeper, who played in the CAF Champions League with Raja Casablanca, and the rest were European-based.”
“We don’t have those players: the quality that is playing in Europe. We can look at the quality at fantastic races that (Mamelodi) Sundowns and (Orlando) Pirates had in the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
“But Sundowns lost in the quarter-final and Pirates in the final. But who won the competitions? Two Moroccan teams, Wydad Casablanca and RS Berkane. And I repeat, there were no players of those teams in the Atlas Lions’ selection, except the goalkeeper Anas Zniti (Raja Casablanca),” Broos exclaimed.
While the Bafana coach’s comments drew support from football fans, it left a bitter taste in the mouths of the custodian of local ‘diski’, Komphela.
In a series of tweets, the former Kaizer Chiefs coach blasted Hugo Broos for his ill-toned remarks and addressing South Africa like “some cabal in a forest.”
“Our nation is addressed with so much carelessness and lack of tact. It is disrespectful and to some it sounds like the “honest truth” but others the tone is just as condescending,” he tweeted.
Khompela made it clear that while he accepts Hugo Broos’ brutal honesty, he was disturbed by the Bafana coach’s apparent “arrogant tone.”
““Yes, be brutally honest, but with respect. It is possible. Not unless you lack intelligence. If so, we’ll understand your deficiencies and limitations. The tone is everything! My issue is the arrogant tone. Almost condescending!” he exclaimed.
Bafana are currently ranked in third place in their group with no points registered thus far. Hope still exists for South Africa’s national team to qualify for the continental contest, but Broos will know that any more points dropped will work to their disadvantage.
