You learn from failure

South African supporters have been spoilt with good results during Hugo Broos' tenure as Bafana Bafana coach, so expectations were naturally high going into the latest edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, especially after the team finished third in the last competition played in Ivory Coast. The team got past the group stages yet again, but the journey ended in the Last 16 with a defeat to Cameroon. Since then, a lot has been said about the national team and there have been some calls, from both supporters and former players, for Broos to be relieved of his duties, but with the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching, would that be the right move? Soccer Laduma's Tshepang Mailwane spoke to Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ricardo Goss to talk about AFCON and where it went wrong for Bafana.

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Tshepang Mailwane: Hola Ricardo, considering you were at the last Africa Cup of Nations where Bafana Bafana finished third, what did you make of the recent campaign in which the team was knocked out in the Last 16?

Ricardo Goss: This AFCON, in terms of facilities and pitches, was on another level. At some point, it felt like we were in Europe. But when it comes to the way we actually played...I don’t think we were that bad, to be honest. I think we just conceded more goals compared to the last AFCON and it kind of set us back. The way we played was not our usual crisp football. But there were a lot of new faces in our team. There were a lot of debuts given and I think at some point we needed to revamp the team because age-wise, including myself. People need to be given chances so that the future is always bright. But I feel we could have done better. If I can pinpoint one difference from the last AFCON, it’s the clean sheets. At the previous AFCON in Ivory Coast, we were stingy in terms of giving away goals. This time we went with a less experienced side to give other people a chance and build for the future. It was lessons learnt and we can only grow from this and focus on the World Cup now.

TM: Do you see this as a failed tournament for Bafana Bafana?

RG: Yeah. If you are being realistic, when you get a bronze, then you'd like to get a silver in the next tournament. But you learn from failure. Everyone was disappointed. Even Sipho Mbule came to me and said, “Are we really going home?” It was so sad. You could hear a pin drop in the bus from the stadium to the hotel. I think the guys only started speaking on the flight back home, which was three days later. Everyone was in their rooms and quiet. We just wanted to be in our own zones. I think we were just broken, and I don’t think you can speak when you are broken.