Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, has expressed concern that the team has been plagued by a high number of injuries to key players, and that he was unable to call for national duty.
This as the team has assembled in Johannesburg, ahead of the crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho on Friday and Nigeria on Tuesday.
Ime Okon and Patrick Maswanganyi, Themba Zwane, Sphephelo Sithole, Deano van Rooyen, are some of the players nursing injuries. Midfielder Sipho Mbule and defender Thabo Moloisane have been called up as late replacements.
“It’s maybe one of the most difficult preparations I have had since I coached Bafana Bafana. We have a lot of injuries, important players like Sibisi, Okon, Zwane, and Grant Kekana among others who are injured. Today we had to tell Maswanganyi to go home, because we don’t have any guarantee that he will be ready for Friday’s clash. It’s very difficult to work with the national team when you have only three or four days to prepare for a game,” said Broos during a media briefing at the Dobsonville stadium.
The Bafana mentor said the situation is also exacerbated by players, who are not regulars at their teams, or don’t even feature in the starting line-up.
He cited Khuliso Mudau, who has boycotted training Mamelodi Sundowns since the start of the Betway Premiership, amid transfer and contract talks.
“Another problem is the information from the clubs about the players injuries, it is not satisfactory. Some teams cited privileged information that they don’t want to disclose to opposing teams, regarding the players that will face them during a game,” explained Broos.
Despite this, Broos has urged the team not to be distracted and focus on the last hurdle before qualifying for the World Cup.
“We are still strong enough to beat Lesotho, but again, we must focus and we must concentrate. We must reach our level best, and we must fight. Playing a good game of football is okay when we can do it, why shouldn’t we do it, but let’s start from the first game, from the first minute and fight for every second, for every square metre on the pitch and try to win that game. It would be a very good situation for us if we could win the game on Friday,” remarked the coach.
Bafana will face neighbours Lesotho on Friday at 18:00 at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Rocklands, Bloemfontein, and then host Nigeria at the same venue next week Tuesday.
Bafana leads Group C with 13 points, followed by Rwanda and Benin in second-place respectively who are both on eight points, Nigeria is fourth with seven points, followed by Lesotho with six points, and Zimbabwe last with four points.
