South Africa coach Hugo Broos hailed his team after they finished off their last assignment for the year by securing top place in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group as they marked a 200th win with a 3-0 victory over South Sudan in Cape Town.
It has been a busy year for the national team with 19 games played already since their 2-0 loss to Mali at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations finals campaign in Ivory Coast in January.
They have not lost a game since then and on Tuesday set a new record of 19 games without defeat.
This is what Broos said after the victory at the Cape Town Stadium
βFirst of all, I have to congratulate my team for the performance of today. Not only for the performance, but also for the mentality this team showed all for the 90 minutes. During the pre-match meeting, I showed them a few results of teams who were already qualified, but who lost last game β Tunisia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso. They all lose. I asked the players not to spoil the party today, and that shows, again, the mentality that we have in the team.
"Those guys are hungry. Those guys know to take their responsibility in front of a big crowd. They couldn't disappoint them, and they didn't, from the first minute we played good football, there was a high tempo. We had chances during all the game. I think we made the people happy. And this is something that is very important too. More and more, we are winning supporters back, it's a big difference from two years ago, when there were 2 000 or 5 000 people coming to see our games.
"People are coming because when they come to the stadium, they see something. And this is what we always wanted to do, and now we are able to do it because we have a good team. So the fact that this team still played 90 minutes at 100 per cent effort to be first in the group, I think is the right mentality. They showed that. I'm very proud to be their coach.β
On the style of the victory
βThere was movement in all the team. There was high tempo, good passing. What I asked also was to play deep, to make actions on the wings, to have much movement in the team. You can ask a team or players to do something, but when you don't see it on the pitch, then you're always a little bit disappointed as a coach, but today, what I asked them in the pre match meeting this afternoon, they wanted to do it, and they did it also.
"And you see when you play that kind of football, then it's very difficult for the opponent, because from everywhere, there were players coming, one goes deep, the other comes back. It was always movement in the team, and we only lost a few seconds of focus. That was the moment in the first half when they got a chance. But for the rest, everybody stay focused and stay concentrated for the 90 minutes. And again, this is what you want as a coach. And I repeat it again. I'm very proud today.β
On selection headaches in the future with many players in good form
βYou know, when you try to build a team, you always try to have complementary players. In the midfield, for example, we have Tebeho (Mokoena) β technical player, good player, maybe a little bit less power, so you need on the other side, a guy who has the power, who is maybe not the best player, but to push your team forward. Before that was (Yaya) Sithole. That's why we made such a good Afcon in January, because, they were complimenting each other.
"Sithole is not there anymore (injured). And I always liked Batusi (Aubaas). Batusi is not the finest player, the guy who will give the final pass, but there is power, and you need that. You need that in modern football. You can have good technical skills, but there is something else, and that is the physical side of football that is able to play 90 minutes, to have the power. And we have that power in our team now, and we had it also in Afcon and that's why we got good results.
"That's why we can compete with teams like Algeria, like Ivory Coast. I think two years ago, it was not possible. And this is also something, what I mean when I say that the level of PSL is not high enough. Technically it's okay, there are good players, but yeah β¦ for (Relebogile) Mofokeng it is a little bit too early now to put him in the team from the beginning.
"He is not a powerful player, so you need someone next to him that can do the work for him. And this is what we try to do every time when we select players. I understand that people are sometimes, βwhy not this one?β I donβt choose players like this. βOh, this is a good player. We chose himβ. No! You have to build a team, and I think we did that in the last two years. And, yeah, we have a good team now, and this is very important.β
On crowds for Bafana matches getting bigger
βI said that always, you can't ask people to come to the stadium when you have a team that doesn't play good, a team that loses. It's impossible, I think, to ask you to go and see them, when you know this is bad team. What am I going to do there? So you need first of all to win your people, to win your supporters, and then they have to come.
"You win supporters with your results. If the results are not there, nobody's coming to watch you. You don't go to a concert of a singer when they cannot sing. You want to go to a concert of someone you like, it's because you like the way they are singing. And that's the same with football. When you can't entertain the people on the stands, people don't come. Now, everybody is happy. In March, the next game for World Cup, there will be a crowd, because everyone want to see us. And this is, I think, is a great achievement.β
