Broos rejects regression talk after Bafana bow out of AFCON

Broos was speaking after Bafana were knocked out of the tournament following a 2-1 defeat to Cameroon in the round of 16 at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat.

Bronze medallists two years ago with a good defensive record from seven matches, but it was another story at this tournament.

"In some games, the performances were not at the level of the South Africa everybody knows, but you can't say that for today. Sometimes, you need a little bit of luck.

"Today, luck was not on our side, but we are not going backwards, although we must make an evaluation of this tournament as we prepare for the World Cup."

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Broos will only have the March international window to fine-tune his squad before submitting a preliminary team for the FIFA World Cup.

At this AFCON, the Belgian coach brought 16 tournament debutants, and he says he will conduct a thorough assessment of what worked and what didn’t later this week, as he prepares for the World Cup...

Off the pitch, Broos was asked about the organisational and logistical challenges during Bafana’s stay in Morocco, including the much-discussed issue of their Rabat base and the distance to training.

He confirmed that these issues would be reviewed as part of broader preparations going forward.

"I will not answer that question, because we need to make evaluations on that before our friendlies in march."

On the field, Broos made four changes to the starting line-up against Cameroon, one of them seeing Samukelo Kabini replace Aubrey Modiba.

Bafana started brightly and created several clear-cut chances early on, but failed to capitalise.

Relebohile Mofokeng, Kabini and Lyle Foster all missed gilt-edged opportunities in the opening stages — moments Broos believes could have changed the outcome of the match...