Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has opened up over his plans to integrate U20 goalkeeper Fletcher Smythe-Lowe into the senior national team.
Smythe-Lowe had a great tournament as South Africa won the 2025 U20 Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-0 win over Morocco in the final this month, with his saves carrying Amajita to the trophy.
The goalkeeper, who was voted Man of the Match in the final, kept four clean sheets in seven matches and made the most saves among all the shot stoppers at the tournament.
By the time Amajita were reaching the semis, he had already made 19 saves and pulled off four good ones against Nigeria in the last four as well as three vital interventions in the final to help South Africa win the title.
Broos saddened by lack of young goalkeepers
That has seen Broos receive calls for the 18-year-old to be promoted to the Bafana Bafana squad and the veteran tactician agrees that it will not take long.
“We looked at the PSL and it is amazing that in some clubs, No.1 and No.2 are foreign goalkeepers. This is unbelievable,” Broos said on SABC as he unveiled his squad for next month’s friendly matches against Tanzania and Mozambique.
“For us then, how can we find a young goalkeeper? So, I think eight or nine of the clubs have foreign goalkeepers as No.1, sometimes No.1 and No.2, so it is very difficult to find them [goalkeepers] and in the preliminary selection, he had [Renaldo] Leaner and [Darren] Johnson but those guys are 27, 28.
“It is not old, but I am looking more to young, 22, 23 years old and therefore, I am very happy with the goalkeeper of U20. He had a fantastic tournament,” Broos added over Smythe-Lowe’s AFCON heroics.
How will Smythe-Lowe be integrated into Bafana?
The Bafana coach then explained what would be the best way to integrate the youngster into the senior national team.
“This is a guy we have to watch in the future and he will be with us I can assure you. We will wait until after the World Cup but then, he will be with us,” assured Broos.
“This is a guy who has to be with Bafana Bafana and it is a pity that we don’t find more of those guys with that talent. Goalkeepers of 23, 24 are very difficult to find in South Africa.”
Smythe-Lowe has seen his stock rise since his impressive performances at AFCON and sensing that they could lose their prized asset, his Portuguese club Estroil reacted by handing him a new three-year contract, when he returned from the tournament.
