Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has bemoaned the loss of Themba Zwane and Lyle Foster to injuries, while admitting that not selecting ‘Mshishi’ earlier in his tenure was “maybe my biggest mistake”.
Bafana face Uganda in a top-of-the-table Group K clash on 15 November before rounding up their 2025 AFCON Qualifiers with a home tie against South Sudan three days later.
Influential midfielder and captain Zwane sustained an Achilles injury and looks set to be sidelined for an extended period while Foster suffered a leg injury.
Broos admitted at the announcement of the squad for the November clashes that he’s sad for Foster because he was becoming the striker he wanted at the time of his injury.
“Lyle was in a fantastic shape at the moment,” said Broos on SABC TV.
“He played very good games against Zimbabwe also against Congo. Yes, he was at last or at least the striker I wanted always because his previous performances were not that good. But now you saw he got a lot of the Premiership experience with him. You see that he’s strong, he moves more.
“You know when you need to find mentality and create mentality in a player let him play in the second division of England. It’s tough for a striker. So, for him it was a fantastic experience even when they’re relegated.
“But premiership playing against Manchester City, against Chelsea, against Arsenal that make him stronger. You see that in Lyle now. For us it’s a loss, it’s a loss certainly.”
With regards to Mshishi the coach admits that his biggest mistake in his tenure as the South African mentor was not picking the Mamelodi Sundowns man earlier. Broos emphasised that he is praying for Zwane to return quickly while adding that his biggest headache is finding Mshishi’s replacement.
“This may be my biggest mistake I made here in South Africa, not to take him from the first minute,” added the Belgian.
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“Themba is not only a good player but also a good human being. And when he came the first time to the team, I explained to him why he wasn’t with us from the beginning, and I think he is not a stupid guy. He understood it and maybe he had to say, also coach, maybe you were right at that moment. But I gave him full confidence from the beginning. I asked him to play in a certain way. Themba for us is the man who has to play between the lines.
“I’ll never tell him you have to do that and that. I just tell him, play between the lines and he’s intelligent enough to know where he has to run, what he has to do and support of the striker.
“And since his first games with us, he became better and better. And again, I said this already months ago we have to look little by little to replace Themba because there will be one moment it will be finished. He’s 35 already.
“That’s the last thing I wanted to replace him to have an injury like this and I pray to God that he will be fine again after recovery. Really, I pray to God because Themba doesn’t deserve that,” the Belgian tactician added further.
