Former Bafana Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo has revealed a conversation with former coach Molefi Ntseki, that prepared the previous crop of what was coming after failure to qualify for the 2021 AFCON.
After Bafana failed to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, SAFA did not waste time to relieve Ntseki of his duties in March 2021 and appointed Hugo Broos two months later.
In the early stages of his reign, the Belgian shocked the football fraternity in the country with his squad selection, after dropping experienced players such as Hlatshwayo, Dean Furman, Andile Jali, Bongani Zungu, Thulani Serero, Bradley Grobler, Kermit Erasmus, goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and even Themba Zwane, before he later changed his mind on the Mamelodi Sundowns captain.
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In place of the experienced players, Broos blooded mostly unfancied players from the so-called small teams, as he cast his net wider, with unexpected selections such as Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who was at Maritzburg United, Evidence Makgopa who was still at Baroka, Yusuf Maart who was at Sekhukhune United, Njabulo Ngcobo who was still at Moroka Swallows, to mention a few, with only a small core of players such as shot-stopper Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena and Percy Tau remaining.
Hlantshwayo's omission from the squad under the Belgian was more glaring, because he was the captain at the national team and club level.
The former Cape Town Spurs (formely Ajax Cape Town) defender, however, says he had no hard feelings because former coach Ntseki used to tell them that they have been at Bafana for long and had nothing to show for it.
"We knew, because when we didn't qualify when we played against Sudan, we knew that you know what, looking at our age, because coach Ntseki used to say, 'Yes, we've been with Bafana Bafana for seven, eight years, but what have we won?' Hlatshwayo revealed, speaking to journalists at the PSL Player Transition Programme graduations in Sandton.
"Because the only thing we could point out was us being knocked out in 2019 Afcon (quarter-finals), that was a record that was sitting and now the (current) group have broken it and went all the way, so I'm really proud of what the guys have done," he added.
Broos' experiment with players from various teams, regardless of status, was criticized in the initial stages but his decision was justified and he got massive support after a decent 2023 AFCON qualifying campaign, although his squad for the tournament proper was dominated by players from Mamelodi Sundowns.
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