Bafana injuries concern Broos
KEY: FRIENDLIES A GOOD PREPARATION FOR QUALIFIERS
Hugo Broos has bemoaned the injury problems that have hampered continuity in the Bafana Bafana camp, as he prepares his side in Nelspruit this week for friendly internationals against Mozambique tomorrow and on Sunday against Angola.
Broos is using these games as preparation for the key Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Liberia in March, and had hoped to pick the majority of the line up that did so well in the 4-0 defeat of Sierra Leone on 24 September.
Injuries to midfielder Siphesihle Sithole, central defenders Innocent Maela and Nkosinathi Sibisi, and attacker Mihlali Mayambela, however, all of whom started that match, have rather scuppered those plans.
“I am here with mixed feelings, on the one side happiness and on the other disappointment,” said Broos, addressing the media in Nelspruit this week.
“Happiness because we are in a fantastic location to have training sessions, everything is good. And I am also happy because we are able to have a camp in November.
“I said months ago that we needed the camp, because of the enormous gap between September and March, when we play Liberia, so we begged to have one.
“Mozambique and Angola are good opponents so it will be a good test for March.
“There is disappointment, because we can’t follow our plan,” he added.
“The plan was to play again in the matches with the guys who were there in September. Maybe not all, but 75% of them. But when you see the list of injuries …”
As well as those mentioned, defender Thibang Phete and striker Lyle Foster are also out of this camp, while Broos also pointed out that Al-Ahly’s Percy Tau and Cape Town City’s Terrence Mashego are not playing right now for their respecitve teams.
Foster has been replaced in the squad by TS Galaxy’s Bathusi Aubaas, and Broos did also highlight the chance for new players to push their way into the Bafana reckoning.
“On the other side, there is an opportunity for the players that are now there to show their qualities and to force maybe a place in the Bafana reckoning in the future. So our ambitions will not decrease for that (the injuries). We want victories like we wanted in September against Botswana and Sierra Leone.
“It should be an enormous boost, if after two victories in September we can have two wins again this week, so we can go with full confidence into the two important games in March.”