South Africa national team coach Hugo Broos has lamented the Bafana Bafana's goalscoring problem ahead of their crucial qualifiers against Nigeria next week, Soccernet.ng reports.
Broos and his boys will take on three-time Africa champions Nigeria at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday, June 7.
The Super Eagles, despite severe injury troubles, will be the favourites to pick up their first win of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
Coach Broos has vowed to ‘shock' Super Eagles new handler Finidi George in Uyo the same way he drove fear into former Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire earlier in the year.
To do that, however, the Bafana Bafana need to score goals, something that the one-time AFCON winners have struggled at in recent weeks.
Before their 3-3 friendly draw with Algeria in March, South Africa had only managed 13 goals in their previous 17 games across all competitions. Broos' side found the opponent's net more than once in only three games and failed to score in nine matches during that run.
The 72-year-old tactician admits that his Bafana Bafana team lacks killer instinct in front of the goal, a quality he laments he can't bear into them.
However, the Belgian gaffer reveals he invited Lyle Foster and Iqraam Rayners to help solve that problem.
“I think that is a problem maybe we don’t have these guys to score goals. We are now looking at two or three years ago and it’s not easy,” Broos said, as per Farpost.
“You have it or you don’t have it. I can’t put it into someone to score goals, it’s a talent that you have. So, I think now with Rayners with 15 goals, it is not so bad.
“We have Foster now who is used to playing in a high-level competition. He scores every time he gets the chance. So, he can score.
“So, let’s hope those two guys can help us now with the two games because two years ago, we were not going to Qatar because of goal differences.”
Broos added: “And the goal differences at the moment is not good either as we scored two and conceded three. So, it’s up to us to increase that and hope that Lyle and Iqraam will help us.”
Barring any last-minute change of plans, South Africa's Bafana Bafana are expected to land in Uyo on Wednesday, June 5, two days before facing Nigeria.
