Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has had to replace as many as seven players who are not available for selection due to injuries.
The national team is on camp in Johannesburg ahead of two international friendly matches against Namibia and e Democratic Republic of Congo.
Both matches will be played at the Orlando Stadium. Bafana lock horns with the Brave Warriors of Namibia on Saturday before squaring up against the Congolese on Tuesday.
Among other changes is that of Kaizer Chiefs star Pule Mmodi who replaces Mamelodi Sundowns skipper Themba Zwane, who was injured at the weekend.
Zwane is recuperating at home after he was stretched out of the field with a head cut following a collision with a Chiefs player on Saturday.
Broos also needed a replacement for another Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena following the Brazilians’ bruising encounter against Amakhosi in the MTN8 semifinal.
“We have seven injuries. We have Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who is injured, we have Zwane, Thapelo Maseko, Luke le Roux, Thapelo Morena and now it is Mokoena – that is a lot of injuries,” Broos told the media.
“I’m not happy about that because these are preparation games for Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations] and World Cup qualifiers.
“I don’t blame anyone for saying that, but it means I have to change seven players from the team [that I fielded] against Morocco three months ago.
“I hoped to have maybe a few changes from the selection that played against Morocco, but now I can call other players to get some game time.
“It’s the goal for the friendly games to give game time to every player who is here, the new ones will have game time.
“To replace Mokoena, we have called Mlungisi Mbunjana from TS Galaxy and Le Roux is replaced by Sphephelo Sithole.
“Mudau [Khuliso] was injured but he played last Saturday in Sundowns’ match against Chiefs. We didn’t know that, nobody informed us about that.”
The Belgium-born coach does not have time on his side and will need to get his players ready for fast-approaching 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in November.
He also needs to get his tactics right for the Afcon in Ivory Coast in January.
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