Did You Know: Jali left Oostende when Broos took over

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Did You Know: Jali left Oostende when Broos took over

Aug 26, 2026 – 02:52 pm
By Lukhanyo Mtuta

Perhaps a coincidence, but Andile Jali’s spell at KV Oostende in Belgium abruptly came to an end soon after Hugo Broos took over as the club’s sporting director.

In this edition of Did You Know, we take a look at how Jali and Broos crossed paths in Belgium in 2018.

Today, it is well known that the two do not share much admiration for each other, with the Belgian coach publicly expressing in 2022 that he had no intention of calling Jali up to his Bafana Bafana squads.

Read: Feet up, sipping on tea: Rulani’s reaction to CAFCL draw

Jali would also later reveal in interviews that he never understood Broos’ reasoning for not selecting him despite his good form around the period when the coach first took charge of Bafana.

While Broos never selected Jali for Bafana, the pair’s paths first crossed at Oostende in 2018, when the now 74-year-old became the club’s sporting director in March 2018.

When he took over, Broos clearly expressed that his objective was to trim the squad and, coincidentally, just over a month into the role, Jali was the first player to leave the club [in April], two months before his contract was due to come to an end.

Broos told Het Laatste Nieuws at the time that he had 31 players, but the plan was to overhaul the squad.

He said: “I want to get down to 25: 22 outfield players and 3 goalkeepers. There is also too much dead weight in those 31 – players who are of no use, who are not good enough to compete for Play-off 1.

“If I keep them, we will be paying seven or eight players for a year to sit on the bench or in the stands.”