Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has heaped praised on his players for their swift improvement in a short space of time since he took charge of the national team set-up on 5 May.

An 11th-minute own goal by Getaneh Kebede handed South Africa a narrow 1-0 victory over Ethiopia at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday in front of 2,000 supporters for the first time in 18 months.

Bafana have since reclaimed top spot in Group G from Ghana and currently sit on 10 points after four matches, with two matches remaining in the group stages.

Broos is pleased with what he has seen from his youthful side thus far, and confident that the future of the national team is looking bright.

“We started here one month ago during the first camp and when you see the steps that we’ve made, it’s down to the excellent work by the players,” Broos said.

“I can only ask certain things of my players and hand out instructions but, in the end, it’s the players who go out and perform. At first, in the game against Zimbabwe we were hesitant, and you saw a team that was lacking confidence.

“Then you saw three days later against Ghana a team with improved confidence playing good football and now a few days ago you saw a team that fights. So, we’ve made big steps in a short period of time.

“I think the players try to carry out instructions and while they perform it sometimes better than other times, their attempting to do it is the most important.

“When comparing it to the first days a month ago, the behaviour of the players gives me confidence for the future.”

Bafana Bafana will next host Zimbabwe in November before rounding out the group stages with a trip to Ghana.