Broos and Bafana take a page from the Boks with their mentality and hunger for success

In the immediate afterglow of success in something South Africa’s national men’s soccer team has not done for 23 years – qualifying for the World Cup – coach Hugo Broos spread the credit around.

He praised the assistant coaches, the medical staff and the players, among others. He wasn’t so coy as to completely neglect his own role in the success, but he wouldn’t take all the credit.

And in a way, he was correct – it’s a collective effort from many departments that form the fabric of success. But like any organisation, it needs someone to pull those strands together in a cohesive direction and to provide guidance.

In short, it needs someone to be a leader, not only in name (heavens, there are many of those in soccer and in all spheres of life), but with actions manifested through planning, empathy and clarity.

I don’t know if Broos has spent much time picking Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s brain, but some of the things Broos has been saying for a while, but which he crystallised in his comments after the match, could have come from the Boks’ playbook.

There are many reasons it’s taken this long for South Africa to qualify for the World Cup, despite having a strong domestic league with rich and successful clubs. It comes down to finding the right leader.

There is no doubt that technically and tactically, some previous coaches might be the equal of Broos – Pitso Mosimane comes to mind – but for whatever reason, they weren’t able to match Broos’s success, which also includes a bronze medal at the African Cup of Nations.

This is where the comparisons with the Boks are close, if not exact.

Boks’ criteria

Almost six years ago, Erasmus and former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber hosted a few media at a lunch shortly after winning Rugby World Cup 2019.

They wanted to connect, but also to explain their methodology to the press pack, who had been and would continue to report on the Boks.

They had made some bold decisions in the build-up to that tournament, especially in terms of selections. Among their methods were dropping key players, making the unfancied Siya Kolisi captain in 2018, and chopping and changing their team almost every week to fast-track experience and sift through players until they found the right personnel.

I don’t recall every criterion they listed, as we were asked not to take notes because it was an informal gathering over lunch with drinks and an easy atmosphere.

But I do recollect that of the roughly 13 categories the Bok coaching duo broke their selection criteria of players into, “character” was top of the list.

Erasmus and Nienaber wanted the right type of mentality from a player, above the right skillset.

They also had a clear vision and plan and would not be swayed from it. And they wanted players to be coachable, which means, able to accept criticism and take the lessons on board to become better.

At all times, the coaches had 100% belief in their plan and they made the players believe in it too. Those who didn’t display the right character or trust in the leadership were quickly culled.

When you started unpacking their strategy, it boiled down to choosing men who would put egos aside, place the team above their own personal ambitions and be willing to serve, as well as lead.

Erasmus’s famous team talk before the 2019 final, in which he asks players to get 80 “fights” (meaning actions) and win 60, rather than get into 40 “fights” and win 35, underlined the thinking.

He could accept some mistakes if players made up for them through effort, rather than players making fewer mistakes but also displaying less effort. In other words, work rate was everything. It requires characters who fight for the team and never give up.

Familiar

Listening to Broos describe his process to the media after the 3-0 win over Rwanda at Mbombela, which ensured Bafana’s passage to North America next year, it sounded familiar.

“I make my choices on different criteria than yours,” he gently chided the media, who bemoaned his team selections and choices over the campaign.

“For me, it is important to have a player with quality, the right mentality and who can do what I ask him to do. Up to now, I have succeeded in doing that.

“You don’t build a team or have performances like that randomly. You need to have a plan, and you must keep to that plan. This is what we did over the past few years.”

Broos changed the mentality of the meaning behind playing for Bafana and representing the country. For too long, call-ups to the national team were seen as holiday camps. Experienced, successful players believed they’d be selected regardless of their attitude. Broos quickly dispelled that mindset.

In the early months of Broos’s tenure, he stopped training sessions because players were not taking them seriously. He reminded them that “training” meant preparing for what happened in a match.

He challenged players to be better, to work harder and to want to fight for their place in the Bafana squad. Broos looked for hunger. Those that didn’t display it at all times were weeded out.

Winning mentality

But he isn’t asking for blind faith, he’s shown them a style of playing and a plan for each of them – the Boks call it a “roadmap” – of how they fit into the bigger picture. Then it’s up to them to show how much they want it.

Broos set goals, not just in terms of results, but in those less tangible aspects, such as gaining respect from opponents and making South Africans care about Bafana.

And the only way the coach believed that could be achieved was through effort and hunger – their mentality – which everyone could see. The results would follow. And they did.

“When I go to club games to scout players, the first thing I look for is their mentality on the pitch,” Broos said. “The rest we can see later. I believe that is the right way to do it.

“And now you see in the national team, there is a fantastic, fantastic mentality of winners who want to win. But they want to work hard when we have to. This is the right mentality and you can achieve things with that mindset.”

Part of that effort and having the correct mentality was learning how to deal with setbacks and even failure. After last Friday’s 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe, which appeared to have ended Bafana’s qualification hopes, the team’s mentality never faltered.

After some initial deflation, by training the next morning, the players’ spirits were back up. They still had a fighting chance to qualify, and their mentality honed over years in Broos’ system, their belief in one another and the plan, meant that they came into the crunch game against Rwanda in a superb frame of mind.

It didn’t happen by accident, but rather because of Broos’s emphasis on the right players with the right mentality. The Boks have used that recipe successfully.

And with the same approach, Broos and Bafana have their reward. DM