‘It will always be me who chooses who’s in the national team,’ said the Bafana head coach.
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has laid down the law on who decides who will play in the South African national team.
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Broos has been forced to make changes to his original Bafana squad for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying Group C matches against Lesotho and Benin.
Bafana will play Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow. They will then take on Benin at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan on Tuesday.
Bafana disruptions
South Africa are targeting six points out of six that will keep them in a good position to qualify. But the build up to the Lesotho game has been clouded by disruptions.
Broos had originally called up TS Galaxy defender Khulumani Ndamane. He replaced him with Stellenbosch’s Thabo Moloisane, however, after discovering Ndamane did not have a passport.
TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi subsequently questioned this decision in an interview with SABC Sport.
“It cannot be an excuse for us as a country to say the player can’t be in the national team because of a passport when the match is to be played some six or eight days after the announcement of the squad,” said Sukazi.
Broos, however, seemed to hit back at the Galaxy chairman this week.
“It will always be me who chooses who’s in the national team. If I don’t want to call up a player, I will not call him up. All these players are here because they deserve it, not because one or another journalist or chairman wants them to be in the national team,” the Bafana head coach told reporters.
‘When a player is ready, I will call him’
Broos has also been left without injured Orlando Pirates forward Patrick Maswanganyi and Sundowns left back Aubrey Modiba. Modiba has been granted leave to be with his newborn child.
Sekhukhune United left back Vuyo Letlapa has come in for Modiba. Polokwane City’s Ndamulelo Maphangule has been brought in to replace Maswanganyi.
“When a player is ready, I will call him even if he’s from Chippa … or Polokwane,” Broos added.
The Bafana coach will now no doubt hope he can get his team fully focused on the task at hand.
Bafana’s best chance
Bafana have probably their best chance in a long time to qualify for a World Cup finals.
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Benin, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, all in Bafana’s group, will not play their home games at home because they do not have stadiums that meet Caf regulations.
Not only this, upcoming ‘home’ qualifiers for Lesotho and Zimbabwe against Bafana will be played in South Africa.
