Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has addressed the calls for RC Lens sensation Ayanda Sishuba into the South Africa national team set-up.
The 18-year-old has made a first-team breakthrough at the Ligue 1 club, which is featuring in the UEFA Champions League this season.
His form has seen him return to the Belgium U19 squad where he was handed the number 10 shirt this week but remains eligible for South Africa due to not featuring for the Red Devils at senior level.
However, there are concerns he could end up being lost to South African football without being attempted to switch his allegiance to the nation of his father Asanda, who left South Africa in the early 2000s before spending over a decade playing in Belgium.
“I said already we’re working very hard to know every player and to follow every player,” Broos said about Sishuba when asked by iDiski Times about the Belgium call-up.
“At the end, you have 40 players and you can only select 23, so it’s up to me as a coach to know the right moment to call those players. So take him [Lebo] for example, in previous months he had some problems with injury, he didn’t play much.
“And now suddenly you see him coming [back to form] and that’s for me the moment to take a new player and give him a chance. He will have the chance to play here, he’s not here to [make up numbers] and that counts for every player.
“So sometimes, fans, media is asking why this one or that one not there – we know the players, it’s not the question. The question is always; is this the right moment? Look at [Kobamelo] Kodisang, same thing, he played well last year but second division.
“Hmmm… I wasn’t sure about him, but okay, now he plays in the top flight so we’ll see and give him the chance. It’s now up to the player to show he has the qualities we like as a player in Bafana Bafana.”
The teenage playmaker scored nine goals and registered two assists in 18 games for the Lens reserve team last season before his first-team promotion.
