Hugo Broos cites changing South African player's mentality as the reason they achieved all they did at the World Cup

The approach to the national team by South African players was not right and that's the reason Bafana Bafana did not have the best results on the field.

This is what the current coach Hugo Broos said was the main characteristic he had to deal with as the national team coach.

“I think the mentality of this team has changed a lot compared to five years ago,” said Broos as he prepares to vacate the post.

“When I saw the first training session of the team I couldn’t believe my eyes – the mentality was not good. I had to stop the training session and tell them, ‘guys, this is not good, you have to work, to do your job. The national team is not a few days off before going back to the club’.”

Broos revealed this as South Africa returns from the ongoing World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada, where they were knocked out by Canada in the last-32, a historic feat to reach the knockout stage.

Broos said the mental change from the players is something he remains proud of as it helped the team succeed grater results on the field.

“Certainly that’s changed – the mentality. You need it for success,” said the Belgian coach.