Broos 'evaluated' Bafana team, saw 'weaknesses' and is now ready for France test

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has admitted that he "evaluated" his senior national team following their 2022 World Cup qualification quest that ended miserably.

After their defeat to Ghana in November last year, South Africa failed to advance to the next and final round of the qualifiers, ending their prospects of travelling to Qatar at the end of the year.

On Tuesday, Broos announced a relatively rejuvenated 29-man preliminary squad for Bafana's international friendly matches against Guinea and world champions France.

He says that his selection is down to the outcome against Ghana.

"The challenges, I think, [that came] after the qualifiers for the World Cup, we evaluated the team and saw that there were some weaknesses, certainly in the game against Ghana. The team was not ready to play such a game," said Broos as quoted by SAFA's official website.

"We saw that Ghana started the game very aggressively, and we didn't have an answer to that, so that was one of the things we saw, and therefore we started to look for other players and see where we could improve the team.

"So, those two games [against France and Guinea] are not really about the results but more about preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June.

"There will be new players; we will see if they are playing well in their clubs and then see if they perform for Bafana, which is a level higher.

"Let us hope that they improve the team. So, we are using these games to be ready for June and know that we have a stronger team than the team that played in the [World Cup] qualifiers."

Broos reveals that the Guinea and France matches are about preparing his charges for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers that kick-off in June.

"These are friendly games,