Tashreeq Vardien | Bafana boss Broos' truth bombs were not meant to hurt SA, but rattle underperforming SAFA

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has identified the football "problems" South Africa face and told the public. His words and tone bothered a lot of people. It stung. However, his truth bombs may be targeted towards SAFA, the decaying association, writes Tashreeq Vardien.

"In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act", is a quote linked to famous novelist George Orwell but not confirmed to be his own words.

The syntax is powerful and holds a lot of weight, much like Hugo Broos' 45-minute press conference that had tongues wagging across the country (and Twitter).

The Bafana Bafana head coach addressed the South African media on Tuesday following his team's return from Morocco over the weekend.

The 70-year-old, his technical team and Bafana left the north African nation with a 2-1 defeat against the Atlas Lions in their opening 2023 Africa Cup of Nation qualifier.

It was Broos' third defeat in his nine official matches in the Bafana dugout, while his time as the senior national mentor has gone beyond the year mark.

But his remarks on Tuesday struck a nerve but also divided a nation.

"I think it's time now to face the real problem. What is the real problem of South Africa? The real problem of South Africa is that we don't have those quality players," Broos confidently told reporters.

He also said: "Therefore, again, let's face the problem of South Africa, and the problem is that the level of our PSL is not high enough. We don't make players with high quality."

Immediately, the Bafana boss began to trend on Twitter as short video clips of his exact words above made the rounds.

Mamelodi Sundowns star Kermit Erasmus did not hold back and tweeted: "Why do we have a coach that doesn't believe in our talent and league.