Bafana Bafana begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaign in the Ivory Coast a week from now and have selected a 23-man squad instead of 27 players, and head coach Hugo Broos explains why.
Drawn in Group E alongside Mali, Tunisia and Southern African rivals Namibia, the 1996 champions get off the mark against the Malians on January 16. In addition to the 23 players selected by Broos, a further three are on standby in Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Elias Mokwana and Tapelo Xoki.
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“Players are not happy if after four days I have to tell them, ‘guys I’m sorry we go with those 22'. So, they know that I have to be ready for it and if there’s nothing happening now in this camp, okay, then I don’t need them or it should be a big accident with the player or injury then we can call someone again,” Broos told SAFA media.
While in charge of the Cameroon national team whom he had led to continental glory in 2017, Broos admits he had faced a similar situation where he had omitted players from the final squad and didn’t want a repeat of that situation this time around with South Africa.
However, the Belgian has faith that should anything out of the ordinary occur in the squad, then the three players on standby will heed the call and step in for Bafana.
“I did it in Cameroon, we started with 28 players and it’s not easy to tell someone; ‘no, you don’t go with us'. Why? It can have different reasons so I didn’t want it to happen again. So those 23 are there and let’s hope nothing happens.
“But if there’s something (that happens to one of the selected players) I know I can count on the three guys who are on standby,” Broos added.
Bafana’s last official match didn’t go the way many had anticipated as they went down 2-0 to Rwanda in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier late last year.
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