South African players need to exit the PSL to fulfill their potential Says Broos.

South Africa’s journey to the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals may have been fueled by the team’s predominantly home-based players, but head coach Hugo Broos maintains that for Bafana Bafana to unlock their full potential, players must ply their trade overseas.

Among all the teams at the tournament, South Africa has the highest number of players from their domestic league. Out of their 26-man tournament squad, over 88%—23 players—are from the PSL.

With a core derived from perennial domestic champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who supplied nine starters in their semifinal loss to Nigeria, Bafana Bafana exceeded all expectations in the Ivory Coast.

Yet, Broos insists that unless more of South Africa’s top players challenge themselves against higher-level opponents regularly, the nation will continue to lag behind Africa’s leading teams.

Also Check: Riveiro Gives up on PSL Title Chase as Orlando Pirates Brace for Continued League Drought

“Countries like Senegal, and Cameroon have very good national teams because those players are playing in Europe,” Broos said on Friday.

“They are playing at a very high level in big teams, while we in South Africa are playing with mostly local players.

“Everyone can now see, the players can feel, that there’s another level and countries who have players in Europe find it much easier as they’re playing every week at this level.