South Africa lost 2-1 to Cameroon in Rabat despite dominating much of the encounter, with the key factor being that the Indomitable Lions took their chances while Bafana mostly spurned theirs.
South Africa’s 66% possession yielded 18 shots at goal, from which they had only Evidence Makgopa’s late strike to show, while Cameroon scored from two of their four shots on target.
“These are the right players at the right moment for this AFCON,” Broos said afterwards. “In the next days and weeks, it will be time to evaluate this AFCON, to see what was good and what was not good, and to make sure we put the bad things right, because in six months it is the World Cup.
"Right now you are frustrated, sad and disappointed, and sometimes you say things that you regret afterwards. I will not do that.”
Broos believes the team went into the match with the right game plan, but that execution was the issue, especially after a strong start in which they carved open the Cameroon defence on several occasions but failed to hit the target.
“I think we had the right plan. In the first half we had three golden chances and normally the game has to be done then,” he said. “But when you miss those chances, you are usually made to pay.
“And we paid with a lucky goal. We head a free-kick out of the penalty box, the guy shoots, there are some deflections and they can score.
“Unfortunately, very soon in the second half they get the second goal, and then you know it will be very difficult. We tried to be dangerous and still had chances. We scored a little bit late, and there was not enough time to get the draw and extra time.
“As I said before the game, Cameroon play with a big heart, fight and have good experience, and that they would be a tough opponent. We saw that today.”
South Africa were not at their best throughout the tournament, but Broos did not criticise his players and says that, especially against Cameroon, luck deserted them.
“My players did what they had to do for 90 minutes, they fought for it,” he said. “In some games the performances were not at the level of South Africa, but we cannot say that for today. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck on your side and we did not have that.”
With six goals conceded in four games at the tournament, Bafana were more open at the back than they have been in recent years. They conceded three times in seven matches at the 2023 edition, where they finished with the bronze medal.
“I agree we have conceded too many goals,” Broos said. “We need to make a good evaluation of what happened in this tournament and look forward to the World Cup."