KOMPANY HAILS FOSTER’S COURAGE

Burnley head coach Vincent Kompany has backed Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster for having the courage to speak about his mental health issues.

Foster was given time off by Burnley earlier this season to deal with problems with his mental health, and also missed out on playing in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals with Bafana.

Foster was included this week by Bafana head coach Hugo Broos in his 36-man preliminary squad for next month’s Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

“I think Lyle did something very powerful by actually speaking up about it himself, and allowing us to speak about it,” Kompany told Premier League Inside Matters.

“How he processed his situation was very, very mature for a young individual in the end. I think we’ve all learned through experiencing this with him.

“The difficulty with football is that so often it’s the problem and … it’s the solution, so these players will be confronted with different states of mind because of the pressure of the job, because of the pressure of being a footballer and what it means.

“Sometimes it’s not even towards the fans, it could be family, it could be your country, it could be your background, it could be your social media.

“So [it’s] the stress of the job and the demand of the performances as well. But at the same time, it’s what they love doing, to create this environment where these players actually see football as their happy place, the solution, and take them away from what they see as a dark place. It’s been for me a learning curve for me this year.

“Lyle has been massive in helping us to understand how to best support players that are facing the situation.”

Meanwhile, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has announced her squad for the upcoming two international friendly matches against Senegal.

The reigning Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) champions, Banyana, will host Senegal at home on May 31 before playing them again away on June 4.

The noticeable absentees from Ellis’ squad are Andile Dlamini, Thembi Kgatlana, Refiloe Jane, Noko Matlou, Nomvula Kgoale and Jermaine Seoposenwe.

Ellis said she will be using the friendlies against Senegal to assess and explore the potential of other players ahead of the Wafcon, taking place in Morocco later this year. —