Xulu feels Bafana are on right track under Broos

Siyanda Xulu has spelled out why he feels he is more important to Bafana Bafana now than ever before.

Since the arrival of incumbent coach Hugo Broos, Xulu has been Bafana’s first choice centreback. Out of the 18 Bafana appearances Xulu boasts, 11 were under Broos. The 31-year-old defender made his senior national team debut under then interim coach Steve Komphela as a 20-year-old in June 2012.

Xulu is expected to start when SA host Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at FNB Stadium on Saturday (5pm).

“I have been in different Bafana groups. This group is special because we have young players and we have a coach who has experience and everything is just clear. Not that I am trying to criticise the other coaches who were here before, but the fact that now I am more involved makes it easy for me to judge on the experiences I have had with Bafana. I feel more important with this current group,” Xulu said. 

Xulu is adamant that Bafana are finally on the right track, having already sealed qualification for the upcoming Afcon in Ivory Coast early next year. The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs centreback feels South Africans are not giving Bafana any recognition when they do well, but are quick to bash them when things go wrong.

“We've been working so hard in the past two years and I think now we are heading in the right direction. I am just one of a few players who are part of the current team who was also involved in the team that didn’t make it to Afcon last time out [in 2021 under Molefi Ntseki]…I know how it felt and I am quiet happy now that we were able to qualify,” Xulu stated.

“It is really disappointing for South Africans not to really appreciate the kind of work the coach has done in the past two years. As I said, I was part of the group that didn’t qualify two years ago and I remember the hammering, and now I think we did fairly well with a new team but there is no appreciation.”