BAFANA BAFANA coach Hugo Broos is hopeful his team’s collective strength can help them overcome the Super Eagles in Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final.
Broos admitted that South Africa did not have a superstar like Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen.
“We don’t really have one star player like a lot of teams. Just look at our opponents tomorrow, Nigeria, with Victor Osimhen, who plays for Napoli and is a big star,” Broos told AFP in an interview in the Ivorian city of Bouake, where the last-four clash will be played.
“We don’t have players like that, so it is really the collective that makes us a good team.
“Everyone does their job and that is sometimes more important than having a few great players.”
Broos leans heavily on the Mamelodi Sundowns side that dominates South African club football, winning the last six domestic titles in a row.
His starting line-up has been the same for the last four matches, including Saturday’s victory on penalties over Cape Verde in the quarter-finals.
The team has shown only a single change from the side that began their opening 2-0 defeat against Mali, with Siyanda Xulu of SuperSport United making way for Grant Kekana of Sundowns.
Broos believes the advantages of playing with so many members of the same club side outweigh any fears of fatigue from a lack of changes.
“They are used to playing together, so there are certain things they know how to do automatically,” said the veteran Belgian, who played at the 1986 World Cup.
“The defence is made up of four Sundowns players, so they understand each other very well and that means that as a coach there is not much I need to do.
“It is not the same when you have four players from four different clubs, because then you really need to work on developing an understanding.
“That means you gain a little bit of time and for me that’s good, especially as they play in the African Champions League, so they have experience of a higher level than our league.”
“I am not someone who changes for the sake of it. I know that rotation is used a lot in modern football, but on the other hand, for me, a team that wins is a confident team and you mustn’t change it too much,’’ he added.
