Bafana Bafana: A true reflection of the sorry state of South African football.

Image credit: Lorenz Kohler Twitter

For Friday night's crucial encounter against Liberia, Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, did everything almost right, except for the poor second half substitutions.

His starting line-up included six Mamelodi Sundowns players, a team that is currently the best when it comes to South African football.

On top of the Sundowns players, there was Lyle Foster, probably South Africa's best export at the moment. There was Percy Tau, who doing well for Al Ahly, and Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who is also enjoying some good form in the MLS.

Broos's line-up, in essence, was arguably the best that Mzansi has to offer, yet they failed to beat Liberia, who are ranked 150th by Fifa.

The 2-2 draw, which might see Bafana failing to qualify for AFCON in Ivory Coast next year January, was a true reflection of the standard of South African football.

In the domestic league, Sundowns have no peers, they are more than 20 points ahead of two of the country's biggest teams, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

Pirates and Chiefs, in a South Africa with a healthy state of football, should be the biggest domestic suppliers of Bafana playing personnel.

But that is not the case, simply because the two giants don't have enough quality in their ranks.

Pirates's best player at the moment is Monnapule Saleng, who, in all honesty, has a long way to go when it comes to international football.

As for Chiefs, they can't even provide the national team with a single player.

Let us say for example, that Amakhosi were the Manchester United of South African football, which in a way, they are!

Now imagine a Man United without a player in the England squad, would that not be a disaster?

Also Read: https://safootballtxt.blogspot.com/2023/03/broos-can-go-but-quality-of-bafana-will.html?m=1

Moving on, let us look at our foreign players, and where they are playing their football.

Our most expensive export at the moment, Lyle Foster, is playing in the English Championship.

When you look at the EPL, La Liga, Ligue One, and the Serie A, there are many African players doing well for their clubs, but South Africans are missing.

Do we even have a Serie A ready player in this country? I doubt it.

So, while it hurts to see Bafana giving away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at home against Liberia, maybe there is a truth that we have to accept.

And that truth is, international football has left us so far behind, we are left with the likes of Liberia as our peers.