Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says the CAF inter-club performances of Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch bodes well for the national team.
With Sundowns and Pirates in the quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League and Stellies in the Confederation Cup, the bulk of those players are likely to form part of Broos’ next national team selection to face Lesotho and Benin in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
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In the last squad as many as 15 were part of the three clubs, and the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations winning coach says it’s part of the reason they impressed at the recent edition of the continental event in Ivory Coast.
“You know… one of the reasons that we did so well at AFCON, the team had six or seven players of Sundowns who had experience of the Champions League, so I think it was one of the reasons why we did so well,” Broos said.
“Now with Pirates who are doing very well, there’s five or six players of Pirates in the [squad] so that for me, I was happy to see the South African teams qualifying for the next round, it’s international experience and something players who are coming from other teams don’t have when they come to Bafana Bafana.”
Broos went on to speak about the importance of clubs, in future, allowing talented players to gain experience at Cosafa Cup and the African Nations Championship (CHAN), he feels more ‘co-operation’ is needed with Safa on releasing players.
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“You play againt other countries, CHAN and Cosafa, we were knocked out of CHAN because we didn’t have the good players, we need the good young players, a year ago we should have had Appollis, Nkota, Mofokeng and Mokwana in CHAN,” he said.
“When they come into Bafana Bafana, they have no international experience, you see that with African countries where there’s many local players, the first team players are playing CHAN or Cosafa – take Mokwana or Appollis they had no minutes in international football.
“I’m very happy that Stellenbosch, Pirates and Sundowns are one round further, before it was only Sundowns, I was happy to see Pirates and Stellies – it’s good for Bafana Bafana.”
Broos is expected to name his preliminary squad next week for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
