South Africa coach Hugo Broos finally concedes defeat to Ghana

South Africa coach Hugo Broos has finally conceded defeat to Ghana, claiming the Bafana Bafana were not ready for the crucial World Cup qualifying match.

Broos’ side lost 1-0 at the Cape Coast Stadium, a result that ended their World Cup journey as Black Stars progressed to the playoff and have been paired with Nigeria.

Bafana Bafana made a formal complaint to FIFA amid claims that they were robbed after Andre Ayew scored a controversial penalty in the first half to settle the contest.

They wanted the match replayed but their request was dismissed by the world football governing body.

And three months on since the game and Hugo has admitted they were ill-prepared for the match.

“The challenges, I think, [that came] after the qualifiers for the World Cup, we evaluated the team and saw that there were some weaknesses, certainly in the game against Ghana. The team was not ready to play such a game,” Hugo Broos said as quoted by Goal.

“We saw that Ghana started the game very aggressively and we didn’t have an answer to that, so that was one of the things we saw, and therefore we started to look for other players and see where we could improve the team.

“So those two games [against France and Guinea] are not really about the results but more about preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June. So there will be new players, we will see if they are playing well in their clubs and then see if they perform for Bafana, which is a level higher.

“Let us hope that they improve the team. So we are using these games to be ready for June and know that we have a stronger team than the team that played in the [World Cup] qualifiers.”

South Africa will play against France and Guinea in friendly games later this month and Hugo has stated that he will use the games to prepare for upcoming assignments.

“These are friendly games, but they are more about preparation. These games are an opportunity for us to try some things. You cannot try things when you are playing qualifiers, you have to be sure when you put your team on the pitch.

“You have to be sure that those are the right players in the right positions. Now we can try [new things now] and we can see what those players are giving to the team. I’m thinking about Mosele [Goodman], I’m thinking about Shandu [Bandile], I’m thinking about Lakay [Fagrie].

“Those players can be an improvement for us. The result for me is not so important, not at all. But I want to see the things we try in those games can be an improvement for the team or not,” he ended.