PSL mentality blamed for Bafana Bafana AFCON elimination by Cameroon 'you score one in five, and it's good enough' and Hugo Broos warned 'Mexico is a different monster' in World Cup as ex-Egypt coach warns

Hugo Broos drew the majority of his players for the AFCON finals from the Premier Soccer League teams.    

His squad that started against the Indomitable Lions had only three players - Samukelo Kabini from Molde FC, Siyabonga Ngezana of FCSB and Burnley's Lyle Foster - from outside the local league.

Bafana were wasteful, and their inability to score goals cost them an opportunity to remain and compete against high-level opposition in Morocco.

Now, ex-Orlando Pirates coach Roger De Sa assessed Bafana's performance and explained that the quality of the PSL is the reason why the national team was not as competitive as it was expected to be.

"Everybody is disappointed in the result, but I don't think the performance was bad; I thought we were pretty good. Obviously, it didn't go our way; in these types of competitions, it's tough. Cameroon is a very good team; you must remember all those players play in European leagues," De Sa told Kick Off.

"They are used to a high level of football that if you get two chances, you score them both. That's where the Bafana squad is lacking: the PSL mentality - you score one in five, and it's good enough (in the PSL).

"But nevertheless, I think they did well to get from the group stages to the knockout stages; they went through that comfortably, even though they didn't play extremely well. I thought we looked comfortable throughout the competition," the former Egypt national team assistant coach added.

While assessing his players' performance against his former side, Broos said Bafana's failure to make their chances count is the primary reason for elimination.

The 73-year-old tactician added that Cameroon were lucky and were in no way better than South Africa.

“Everyone is very disappointed, really unhappy. I think we had the right plan. And everyone saw that in the first half, we had three open chances in the first half hour," Broos explained.

"Normally, the game has to be done then, but when you miss their chances on that level, you're made to pay later. And we paid the bill; they got a lucky goal. The corner – we cleared it out of the 16; the guy shoots, it touches our leg, goes to the feet of a Cameroonian player, and he scores.  

"I think that was their first chance. Cameroon didn't have an answer to the way we played, but unfortunately, very soon in the second half, at the second goal, you know that it will be very difficult, because at that moment, Cameroon stayed very well at the block, around 16, they kicked the ball in front, and then they had some very quick players," he added.

"We tried to be dangerous. We still had chances. And we scored a little bit late. There was not enough time because otherwise, I think we could have maybe played a draw and had extra time.

"As I said before the game, this team of Cameroon played with a big heart, fighting spirit, and physical strength, and it was a very strong and tough opponent, and I thought we saw that. My players did what they had to do. For 90 minutes, they fought for it. But yeah, disappointment.”

AFCON performance is probably something that Broos will deeply look into and try to find solutions to what contributed to the poor show.

The Belgian has promised that there will be an evaluation to see what made the struggle as compared to their performance in Ivory Coast in the last edition.

"We have first to make a good evaluation on that and look at it - what the problems were or what the good things were - so that we are ready again in March to play the friendlies and be well prepared for the World Cup," the coach explained.

"As I said already, I think in the next day or weeks, it's time to evaluate this tournament and what we did also two years ago. And see what was good and what was not good. And the good thing, the bad thing, was that we would try to make it better. We will see. 

"I can make declarations now, but, you know, when you lose a game like this, you're eliminated from a tournament, you are frustrated yourself, you're disappointed, and sometimes you say things that you shouldn’t. But I agree with you that we have to evaluate our performances here and see what we can do.”

Broos has only the March international break to test his players before fully focusing on the 2026 World Cup finals.