Muhsin Ertugral and Farouk Khan think Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele and head coach Hugo Broos need help going into the 2026 Fifa World Cup. The South African Football Association (Safa) should provide Hugo Broos with as much support as possible in the build-up to the 2026 Fifa World Cup to ensure Bafana Bafana have a great chance of progressing into the knockout phases. Following a somewhat disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign, in which they were sent packing in the Round of 16, coaches Muhsin Ertugral and Farouk Khan agree that “teamwork will make the dream work” for South Africa in Mexico and the USA.
“There has to be some form of bigger technical committee formed from the club coaches to work together with Hugo Broos and his technical team,” said Khan, a former coach-turned-analyst and owner of the Stars of Africa Academy. “There has to be constant discussion of how the players are doing at club level – from a performance perspective, technical and tactical as well as psychological. Regular monitoring of the players is going to be important and Hugo and Helman (Mkhalele) can’t do that on their own.” Ertugral agrees with the idea and shares how the Turkish national team involved many coaches, himself included, for a previous World Cup.
“In Turkey, we had a community of technical people working together to help the team prepare. They brought us in to ensure that the coach could work and concentrate on his work while we looked at the performances of the players who were based all over the world and at home. We discussed the players individually, monitored their performances and even gave them feedback.” The idea of PSL coaches working in tandem with Broos is a bit far-fetched in a country where such a move has been suggested for years but never really took off, though the silver-haired Belgian has said matters have improved since he took over nearly five years ago.
[paywall]
It is for that reason that Khan, although he believes it would be ideal, is not banking on the Premier Soccer League (PSL) suspending its season two or three months before the World Cup, as South Korea did when they co-hosted the global showpiece 24 years ago. Ertugral thinks, however, that it is a no-brainer that every technical person in the country should be eager to lend a helping hand, and calls on SAFA and the PSL to see eye-to-eye for once. “We need to put aside the egos and differences because this is not about individuals but rather about this one chance of putting South Africa on the world map,” the former Kaizer Chiefs coach said.
So, let’s sit down and discuss having every player individually analysed and making sure they know exactly what is expected of them. Have the performance analyst of Bafana Bafana in constant contact with his counterparts at the different clubs. It frees the coach’s mind to focus on preparing for the World Cup.” Ertugral says in Turkey they had weekly meetings to discuss the national team players’ performances.
“We all watched matches of the players and then came together and discussed their performances in their individual leagues and every Monday we would put together – along with the national team coach and his staff – what we believed was our best starting line-up. So every Monday we had a first 11 and it really helped us prepare for the World Cup.” Of course, the make-up of the technical team has to be highly influenced by Broos. “The coach has to be the one who chooses.
Remember this is an ego-driven business and Hugo is the boss — maybe boss is a stupid word, but he is the leader and the final word on this has to be his because he must be the one who drives it. The reality is we all have one goal and we should work towards it.”
[/paywall]
