It’s a difficult job for the coach
On Bafana’s upcoming friendlies against Eswatini and Cote d’Ivoire
At this level of the game, there are no friendly matches; ‘friendly’ is just a word. Bafana Bafana’s matches against Eswatini and Cote d’Ivoire are going to be very interesting. There is a lot of pride that comes with some of these results, so, you can be sure that it’s going to be fierce encounters. It’s an honour for Eswatini to be playing against Bafana, who have already qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast. At the same time, this match also gives Eswatini an opportunity to test their strength against a team that is at a very high level, and besides the strength, if they can match Bafana on the field, the result will come naturally. If that is going to happen, it’s going to be a big plus for Eswatini. But I also know what the Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, will be looking for and there will be some advantages playing against Eswatini. Eswatini might not be tactically at the same level, but there is that physical battle that they will bring to the match. They a very strong physical team that can compete, that is what you will get. They will press you, they will push you, there will bump you off the ball, and there is a lot that Bafana will take from a game like this. In football, you learn certain things by playing against certain teams and against Eswatini, Bafana will learn how to play against a team that will fight for 90 minutes. They will keep you on your toes and you want that, especially going to a tournament like the Afcon next year. Going to the match, Bafana might have certain advantages tactically, but the physicality of the Eswatini players is what you don’t get anywhere and that is what Bafana will take away from this game. This Eswatini team is made up of players who are approaching the end of their careers and they are at a stage where they would like to go out with a bang. The rebuilding process will start at the beginning of the next qualifiers. Right now, they have had the same squad that failed to qualify for Afcon and also played at the recent COSAFA Cup. Only after this game we can start talking about rebuilding.
On the squad named by Hugo Broos
If you look at the Bafana squad, from goalkeepers you have Ronwen Williams, Ricardo Goss and Veli Mothwa. There is also Sipho Chaine who has not been selected for the two matches but still has a chance to go to Afcon next year. If you look at Chaine’s performance, he has been very consistent, but then you must weigh him up against those who have already been there and been playing. He started playing in January last year and he has had a good one-and-a-half seasons. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t qualify to play for the national team. Let’s see Chaine again this season and take it from there. What he has done already is fantastic and after these two matches we can talk about him getting included in the national team. Going forward, he might be considered and given a chance and he is worth consideration. There is also Darren Keet, who has not been selected. We must not write him off because he is another goalkeeper that has also shown great character this season. He has had a number of clean sheets and his team is doing well and competing. They had a big slump and came back stronger and Keet has been key in those performances. It’s not going to be easy to choose the three goalkeepers for the final tournament next year. If you bring in Chaine, others will say, “Why not Darren?” The next wave of performances at club level will be key to how the national coaches select the players. If you look at the defence, there are players from Sekhukhune United, Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United, and if you look at those teams, they are at a top level. With the exception of Pirates, they are in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup and that speaks volumes because you want players who are performing well at club level. They can help by bringing that form to the national team.
OnMthethwain midfield, and forward selections
Njabulo Blom is back in midfield and the rest of the midfield is made up of defensive players. Sibongiseni Mthethwa is there and a lot of people think he is defensive, but in my opinion, he is a box-to-box midfielder who can offer you more than defending. He adds a lot of value into the attacking parts of the field. He might just mix it up nicely with the rest of the forward players and you need that in the team. The quality of the teams Bafana will be playing against is topnotch, so players who can recover the ball possession quickly are key and Mthethwa provides that. Obviously, others are more suitable sitting in midfield, which is fine, but there is a good balance there. The coach has chosen key forward players and you can see that there are qualities that they bring. You want them to be scoring goals and they come from big leagues where the level of competition is way higher. They can compete with the best from around the world and Lyle Foster is a good example. Overall, this is a good squad and we must not tamper with it a lot before the tournament next year. It’s a difficult job for the coach to add more players or make changes into the squad that he has already selected because you can’t have everybody. There is also Khanyisa Mayo, who was not initially selected. Mayo has an advantage of age and has a great future ahead of him. He has been excellent for his team and is showing great character and can grow into his role in the national team. We all know what he is capable of doing and he will add a lot of quality for the national team now as well going forward.