The spotlight again is on the Belgian tactician since he named his final squad to take on Panama during the international break. The raging debate is who should have been called up and who should have been left out. The games lined up later this month are expected to give the 73-year-old a glimpse of how fit his players are before the World Cup finals.

Over the years, some high-profile strikers have come out of Mzansi, but recently, the upcoming ones have struggled to reach the standards set by their predecessors. As Hugo Broos looks forward to naming his World Cup squad, he should be scratching his head on whether the available centre-forwards will deliver. Before then, though, a retired striker has shared lessons for the current crop.

South Africa were booted out of the continental competition at the Round of 16 stage by the Indomitable Lions in Rabat. The exit meant they failed to at least replicate the outing at the previous edition in Ivory Coast. They now head home, hoping their showing in Morocco will not demoralise them ahead of June's 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In an attempt to ensure that South Africa remain in Morocco, the Belgian came up with what looked like a strange matchday plan, and also his team formation was not what he used to deploy. He made four changes to the squad that faced Cameroon and got eliminated. In the end, the strategy failed as Bafana saw their journey come to an end and the Indomitable Lions progressed to the last eight.

South Africa's coach firmly defended his tactical and squad choices by pointing out they had three 'open' chances to score in the first half hour of the Round of 16 clash with the Indomitable Lions but failure to capitalise on those chances meant his side was vulnerable to conceding and losing the match.

South Africa deployed a more defensive approach with the hope of winning the midfield battle, but in the end, Hugo Broos' gamble did not pay off, as his players were outfoxed. A journey that started with a controversial off-pitch issue between the coach and Mbekezeli Mbokazi has ended as crestfallen Mzansi head home earlier than in the last edition, where they reached the last four. Ironically, a team that Broos helped lift their last AFCON title has ended his dream of winning his second continental trophy.