Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has opened up on the emotional decision of leaving Themba Zwane out of his final squad for the upcoming back-to-back clashes against Kenya.
Mosimane announced a final 27-man squad that will face Benni McCarthy’s Harambee Stars in the AFCON qualifiers.
Zwane, who featured in the previous camp and South Africa’s opening two qualifying matches, was among the notable omissions after initially making the preliminary squad.
The coach admitted that dropping the Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder was a difficult decision, particularly given Zwane’s role as one of his trusted advisors.
“Emotional, it was not an easy one, I had to drop Mshishi,” said Mosimane on SABC Sport.
“He’s also my coach by the way Mshishi, he helps me with these boys to say coach ‘this one his strength is this’.
“So, I have left the coach behind now. But I also have to say, are we burying Lyle? Is he Lyle 35 years old? Is Lyle not a good player anymore.
“We mustn’t forget who scored for us to qualify for the AFCON. This thing is not just about the talent, it’s emotional and I had to phone Mshishi.
“Yes, I called him, he took it well, he’s professional and said no problem coach, let’s give Lyle he’s strong in the box and he can score for us.”