Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has raised his concerns over the lack of development pathways for South Africa’s youth national teams, lamenting that the country risks losing its next generation of football talent.
The South African Under-17 squad is set to begin their FIFA U-17 World Cup campaign with a Group A clash against Bolivia in Qatar.
That being said, their preparation has been minimal, having played only a single warm-up match — a 3-0 victory over Malawi on Sunday.
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Looking at the next age cohort, the Under-20 team, despite being crowned African champions after their triumph at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt this May, exited the U20 World Cup in the round of 16 following a defeat to Morocco.
Their limited preparation mirrored the challenges faced by the U-17s.
Speaking after naming his preliminary squad to face Zambia in an international friendly next month, the Bafana boss said in the Sowetan: “U17s are going to the World Cup, and U20s were in the World Cup, so I think we are at a crossroads now.
If we are not going to work with those guys in the next coming months, in two years you won’t hear anything about them anymore.
“You have to organise camps for them, or else they’ll be gone. It’s not enough to go to the Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations] and World Cup and stop there.
“You have talented players, so work with it, let them play during FIFA breaks because they have to stay at top level, otherwise the standard will drop and the players will disappear.”
Broos’s remarks highlight a growing concern that without consistent investment in youth camps and development structures, South Africa’s promising young players may fade from the spotlight before reaching their full potential.