The rhetoric that a strong Kaizer Chiefs is a good reflection for South African football, is a sentiment that Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos shares.
The Bafana mentor recently named his 23-man squad with only one Chiefs player in Rushwin Dortley, who, however, was called up merit of his performances from during his time at Cape Town City.
The little or none representation of Amakhosi players at the national team has been a regular occurrence under Broos.
However, he recently had a chit-chat with new Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi, and he Broos is of the view that the former Young Africans mentor is the right man to lead Amakhosi’s revival.
“I spoke to him because when I came back from Belgium, I did not know that he is living in the same building that I live in,” said Broos.
“Someone from Kaizer Chiefs came to me and said ‘coach, someone wants to speak to you’. I was sitting there drinking coffee and so I spoke with him and he is quite a good coach.
“I think you will see what is happening at Chiefs – it is a different thing now. He wants what he wants and maybe it is a little bit easier for him to achieve that at Chiefs because it is not easy to be a Chiefs coach.
“It is not easy for a South African coach to slam on the table and say ‘no, I want that’. I’ve said it before that it is not normal that a team like Chiefs finish seven or eight, it is not good for South African football.
“I hope that Chiefs are there next season to fight with Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns and have many teams fighting for the title,” he added.
Bafana, meanwhile, will assemble next week to gear up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Uganda and South Sudan. South Africa will host the Ugandans at the Orlando Stadium on September 6 before jetting off to northeastern Africa to face South Sudan four days later.
