Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos.
Image: AFP
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is taking all the criticism coming his way in his stride, ahead of the crucial Fifa World Cup Group 1 clash against the Czech Republic on Thursday.
There has been heavy fallout, particularly on social media, after Bafana’s lacklustre performance in the opening 2-0 defeat to hosts Mexico last week.
Broos bore the majority of the fallout due to his defensive 3-5-2 formation that saw Bafana’s two strikers isolated up front.
He has now been called on to be more adventurous against the European nation, but the 74-year-old experienced mentor is not listening to all the outside noise and has adopted a philosophical attitude to deal with the increasing pressure.
“You know, this is part of my job. I know that when you lose, you are criticised. When you win, you are the king,” Broos said.
“And eight months ago when we qualified for the World Cup against Rwanda at home, there was somebody who came to me and he said, ‘Coach, they have to make a statue for you in South Africa.’ I told him, I said, ‘Make it in wood so it will burn more easily when I lose.’
“And that happens now. So, I'm too experienced to look and to listen to that. I try to do my job as well as possible. And I try to have a team on the pitch who will fight for the 90 minutes. And we will try, if we lose, that we can leave the pitch proudly because we did everything for it.”
Kick-off is at 6pm (SA time) on Wednesday evening.