Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is disappointed that Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly have withdrawn their players who had been called up for national duty.
The sudden withdrawals, announced on Monday, came ahead of friendly matches scheduled to take place in the next seven days.
Bafana will host Eswatini at the FNB Stadium on Friday night before travelling to Ivory Coast for another international friendly against the host of the 2023 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in January.
Addressing the media at the Tuks High Performance Centre in Pretoria on Monday, Broos said Al Ahly were dishonest with Percy Tau’s unavailability, as he played during Ahly’s 3-1 victory over Ismaily at the weekend.
This despite Ahly reporting that Tau was attending to family issues.
“I had contact with Percy last week and he said for family reasons, he wouldn’t like to be here with us,” Hugo Broos told Safa media.
“I am not amused that he played yesterday [Sunday] for Al Ahly. Unfortunately this camp is again disturbed by injuries like last month.
“We had [Bathusi] Aubaas, [Thapelo] Morena, [Innocent] Maela and [Thapelo] Maseko [missing the camp].
“Maseko is something different … it’s the second time that we have had that surprise that a player is injured then suddenly he plays [for his club].”
Maseko came off the bench as a substitute for Sundowns during the MTN8 final defeat against Orlando Pirates at the Moses Mabhida Stadium at the weekend.
Tau has since been replaced with Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Mduduzi Mdantsane, who joins fellow teammate Sibongiseni Mthethwa.
Hugo Broos also suggested that Mdantsane has what it takes to fill in the shoes of Sundowns star Themba Zwane, noting that he is on the right track to be the future of Bafana.
The outspoken Belgium international has since called for better communication between himself and clubs ahead of World Cup qualifiers and the Afcon tournament.
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