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Players’ training
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says 80 percent of his squad for next month’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Morocco is confirmed.
He says the bulk of the squad that qualified Bafana Bafana for the AFCON and World Cup tournaments will be retained, but fringe players could still force their way onto the team. Broos named a 23-member squad for next week’s international friendly against Zambia earlier Thursday.
The match against AFCON-bound Zambia is the only confirmed international friendly in the build-up to the continental tournament and falls within the last FIFA international window of the year.
It will be played in Gqeberha next Saturday. And Broos says one warm-up match is sufficient preparation.
“Why we only play one game you see the overloaded programme at the moment with the PSL that players are playing every two days. I wanted to save them a little bit of another two games in the national team. Every game in the national team I ask the players to go 100 percent, I think with all the game they are playing now. It was better to play only one game and a good game than playing two games and having players who suffer from fatigue,” says Broos.
He’s not going to tamper too much with the squad because he says, now is not the time to start with a rebuilding process.
“AFCON is so important that we can’t make big changes now. I want to keep the group together that qualified for the AFCON and also for the World Cup, and we will see in the next months, maybe in March, maybe try and call other goalkeepers to see what we will do with them in the future. Because after the World Cup, I think we have to really think about replacing,” Broos explains.
But Broos says the door will remain open for any players who impress him ahead of the AFCON.
Orlando Pirates midfielder Masindi Nemtanjela and Sekhukhune United attacker Keletso Makgalwa are the only uncapped players in the squad for the Zambia match.
