Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has braced himself for “painful decisions” over his final Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) squad, asserting that some fringe players showed him what he wanted to see over the weekend against Zambia.
Bafana thumped Zambia 3-1 in what was their last friendly before Afcon, which takes place from December 21 to January 18 in Morocco. Oswin Appollis, Mohau Nkota and Sphephelo “Yaya” Sithole were on target for the hosts, while Joseph Sabobo netted Zambia’s consolation in stoppage time.
I will make decisions, and some of them will be painful for the players and also for me personally.
— Hugo Broos, Bafana Bafana coach
Bafana started the game with regulars but at the start of the second half Broos introduced a few players who have found playing opportunities hard to come by in the national team. The likes of second-choice goalkeeper Sipho Chaine, centre-back Khulumani Ndamane and striker Evidence Makgopa are some of the players who were introduced in the second stanza.
“I know that what was so easy two years ago will now be very difficult to do because we have more than 23 players who can go to Afcon and deserve to go to Afcon. I will make decisions, and some of them will be painful for the players and also for me personally because it’s not a nice thing to drop a player,” Broos said.
“Today I gave players who hadn’t played much in the past some minutes...to see how they react and how they are adapting to the team tactically. Again, I am certainly satisfied but not 100%...but I wanted to see what I saw today.
“I think the guys I introduced in the second half we can use them in the future...maybe already for Afcon, like Ndamane. Today he was a little bit hesitant, but you saw him in the previous game against Rwanda; he was very good. It’s not easy to come into the game in the second half.”
Bafana are in Group B with Egypt, Angola and Zimbabwe at Afcon. SA will get their campaign underway when they face Angola on December 22 in Marrakesh.
Sowetan
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