Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos won’t make major changes when he selects his squad for the African Cup of Nations in December. And he says that he is disappointed that Mamelodi Sundowns’ kingpin Themba “Mshishi” Zwane is still struggling with injuries.
Zwane is recovering from injuries and has missed a vast number of Sundowns and Bafana matches in the last couple of months due to recurring knocks. Broos also added that he will not fast-track the Amajita players who did well at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Chile recently.
“In the selection for Afcon, we will not make drastic changes. And it will also depend on injuries,” Broos told the media on Thursday.
Hopes to have Zwane back soon
“We hope that we could have Themba Zwane back but he is not here. He is still not playing – all these elements will play a role in the next coming weeks. It’s not a secret that the players who have been there, with about maybe six new players, will be part of the selection for Afcon.”
Broos added that he was not going to throw the SA Under-20 players in the deep end after they performed well at the World Cup where they reached the last-16 stage.
“After the Under-20 World Cup, people are already asking me if the Under-20 players will be part of Bafana for World Cup. But this is too soon. They must play in more international competitions – and that is the most important thing.
Banking on his successor
“Maybe for the World Cup we can take one or two players, little by little, we will introduce those players. But we cannot take a lot of them. When my successor comes, he will have to go with them. Starting from the next Afcon to the next World Cup and so forth,” he added.
About his successor, the Belgian explained that his assistant Helman Mkhalele was the best candidate to take Bafana forward when he hangs up his boots after next year’s World Cup.
“Everyone knows I will stop after the World Cup because of my age. Not because I don’t like it anymore here. If I was 10 years younger, you can be sure I was going to stay here for another two years. And it would be seven years. I’m very happy here, I love it here. But I will be 74 years old. I hear that I will be the oldest coach.
“I must go and focus on my family. They have made sacrifices for 30 years so that I can be a coach. I think the best thing is for Helman to continue after me. Because then you have a follow-up on the same thing. The philosophy will be the same. With a little bit more African thing because I’m European. Helman thinks the same thing as me,” said Broos.
