WATCH | Bafana coach Broos says clubs must stop protecting errant young players

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has reiterated there is a need for tough love when dealing with errant young footballers to whip them into line so they learn from their mistakes.

Speaking as Bafana prepared for 2026 Fifa World Cup preparation matches against Panama at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday and Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday, Broos blasted some clubs who protect players over unprofessional behavior.

Bafana host the Central Americans in their last high-profile preparation matches before they leave in May for the tournament in North America in June and July where they are in Group A against co-hosts Mexico, South Korea and a yet to be confirmed European qualifier.

Broos said over the coming weeks, when he will be with the team leading up to the World Cup, he is going to focus more on discipline, something the technical staff identified Bafana lacked exiting in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco in December and January.

“The most important thing for those players is they need guidance, that’s all,” said Broos, who has in the past also hammered agents for prioritising their financial interests over those of the players.

“They need someone next to them who will look at their interests and not the other side. There is something I see, not only because I am always criticising agents, but from clubs.

“Guidance of those young players is not good because when they become good players the clubs are already seeing the money.

You can quickly go up but you can go down even quicker. You have to be tough in some moments

—  Hugo Broos

“Last year Mbekezeli Mbokazi one time came to camp late. I got a message from Pirates saying he lives in a region where you don’t easily find transport to go to the airport. Come on man, they protect the player for making a mistake.

“After such a thing, you have to be hard [on the player] because he should have known ‘I can’t do that’. Don’t defend him, tell him you have made a mistake and by doing that you are guiding him. This is what young players need.

“I always [look] to my country [Belgium], they had to learn also. Now you see a big team in Belgium like Club Brugges, sometimes there is interest in a player but they don’t sell him.

“They say, ‘It is not the [right] moment and you stay with us’. One year later, they have five or ten million more and this is guidance.

“This is something we have to do more in South Africa and not only looking at our interests. We must say, ‘Is it the right moment to go and where is he going?’

“We can’t only see what can I put in my pocket. You know when you are young, you think the world is at your feet.

“You can quickly go up but you can go down even quicker. You have to be tough in some moments.

“I put Jaden [Adams] out of the team for one year because he made a big mistake [being expelled from camp for disciplinary reasons in October 2024] and he had to know. This is something we have to learn in this country.”

TimesLIVE