Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says that he has realised that Themba “Mshishi” Zwane was the missing link in the Bafana Bafana set-up after he called up against Sierra Leone in September. Zwane has been a revelation for the SA national team since that game.
The Mamelodi Sundowns dribbling wizard also had a sterling performance against Mozambique on Thursday and Broos admitted that “only fools do not change their minds”. Broos was talking ahead of the second friendly international at the Mbombela Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Bafana were impressive when they defeated the Black Mambas of Mozambique 2-1, also in Mbombela.
“I admit that when I came here, I wanted to see younger players first, and Zwane was 32 and he will be 35 by Afcon. Only fools do not change their mind and after the Sierra Leone game, I realised that Zwane was the missing link and I think that he can bring us to the next level – the role he has played in this team I am very happy with his performance and the team,” said Broos.
“The Thursday game was a good test for us and there will be some changes in the team for the match against Angola. We must not forget that there have been some tough matches for the clubs, the MTN8 semi-finals, the final and also the Carling Black Label Cup – there are guys who played those four matches and we have to be careful that we do not overload them too much.
“This is the opportunity for the guys who did not play against Mozambique to show their qualities, so that they make the team for the game in March. When you have a good bench and substitutes you can be very strong. There are two very important games in March against Liberia and we have to win, we want to go to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations – two victories or one win a draw will see us through but we want to play for a win. These games now in September and November were good preparations and they give us confidence in believing that we are going to Afcon,” he added.
Broos explained further: “It is important that players are hungry and want to be with the national team and this is the kind of atmosphere we have been creating in the team for the last two months – this is a motivation for the players. There will be changes Bongokuhle Hlongwane was exhausted when he came off – he will not start tomorrow. If we overload players we will bring players in the last 30 minutes, last two tough weeks, too many games and we hope players do not get injuries in friendly matches.
“We will get to see players that did not feature a lot for Bafana and maybe they can convince me to pick them for the Liberia match. When I came here, I did know any players and I had to search and it was long – what we did in September we took some new players and it was a success. After this game (Angola) we hope we will have a group strong enough to qualify for Afcon, we are building a team with continuity so that the boys can play with each other – and not to have eight new players all the time. Let’s hope now this selection is for the future, I think we are succeeding with our selection.”
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