Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has opened up on the emotional process behind trimming his World Cup squad, revealing that the six players omitted from the final group were given the choice to either stay overnight with the team or leave camp immediately.
Broos admitted that finalising the squad was one of the most difficult parts of the job, insisting that the decisions were made with the team’s best interests at heart rather than out of emotion.
“In the past days, I gave them confidence from my side,” said Broos. “And on the first day we came together on Monday, I already told the players the decision would not be easy. There is always an emotional side to it, also for the coach.”
The Belgian mentor explained that squad selection involves far more than simply choosing names on paper.
“Don’t think you just sit in front of a paper and start writing names,” he said. “Sometimes you are confronted with difficult situations where you have to drop a player you actually wanted to keep, but it’s not possible.”
‘THESE DECISIONS ARE HARD TO MAKE’: BROOS
Broos said he tried to help the affected players understand the difficult balancing act involved in selecting a competitive squad.
“I told the players, please try to understand my side,” he added. “I have nothing against you, but I have to be realistic and choose with my brain, not with my heart. If I chose with my heart, we would be 32 players today.”
The 74-year-old also revealed he allowed the omitted players to decide how they wanted to leave camp following the announcement.
“Yesterday evening, I gave the players the freedom to decide if they wanted to stay until after breakfast or go home immediately,” he explained. “They decided to leave immediately. We had a chat with every player who went home, and it was not a nice moment for me as a coach either. But those are decisions you have to make.”
Broos acknowledged that the true measure of his decisions will ultimately be judged by Bafana’s performances at the World Cup.
“These decisions are sometimes very hard to make, but you do it for the team,” he said. “You try to have your best team and make the right choices. We will only know after the World Cup if I made the right choices or not.”