Bafana striker Lyle Foster may be on his way out of Burnley to join Ipswich Town in the Premier League. Photo: EPA
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is expected to stick to his tried and tested personnel when he announces his final 23-man squad today for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers next month.
Bafana will assemble for camp early next week ahead of their Afcon qualifiers against Uganda at Orlando Stadium next Friday (6pm start), and away to South Sudan on Tuesday, September 10 (3pm).
Having announced a strong 38-member provisional squad, which included the usual rearguard and some interesting new faces, it would seem as though Broos’ job will be easy – but far from it.
While the discerning observer would love to see some new faces infused into the team, including Dutch-based striker Simon van Duivenbooden, Broos will be wary of fixing things that aren’t broken.
Sure, Van Duivenbooden might bring a different flavour to the attack, given his physique, but perhaps now is not the right time to experiment.
Most of Broos’ usual strikers – Evidence Makgopa, Lyle Foster and Oswin Appollis – are either injury-free, on form or both, something that augurs well for the South Africans.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos names the preliminary squad to face Uganda and South Sudan in two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September 2024. pic.twitter.com/7brilXGsxY
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) August 20, 2024
Makgopa led the line for Bafana during their third-place finish at the Afcon early this year, and he impressed in the absence of Foster, who was dealing with a medical condition.
With Foster now back and fully fit, Broos could opt to have both men in his team instead of dropping either of them as they possess different qualities.
Orlando Pirates’ Makgopa has scored just a single goal this season in three appearances, while Foster has registered one assist for Burnley in three starts in the English Championship.
Foster has hogged the headlines recently as he’s rumoured to be on his way back to the Premier League to join new side on the block, Ipswich Town.
According to media reports in Europe, Foster would join Ipswich on a season-long loan deal that could be made permanent at the end of the season.
The fact that Foster is attracting positive attention augurs well for him and Bafana as it will aid his recovery from mental issues late last year.
Broos, though, cannot rely solely on Foster to ensure the team has a good start in the qualifiers, especially given that he’s yet to play for the national team since last year.
That’s why the other 22 players who’ll make the list this afternoon must also make sure that they wear their hearts on their sleeves and represent the nation with pride.
The 16 players who’ll unfortunately get the chop from the provisional list cannot afford to drop their heads either, and should instead use the initial call-up as motivation.
The story of goalkeeper Sipho Chaine has been fascinating. Before his arrival at Orlando Pirates three seasons ago, he was regarded as an unwanted journeyman.
Chaine had to adjust to the sale of childhood club Bloemfontein Celtic to Royal AM, where he was not in the coach’s plans, having been shipped off to Chippa United a few months later.
And even before he could play his first game for the Chilli Boys, he joined Pirates as a third fiddle – behind No 1 Richard Ofori and second-choice shot-stopper Siyabonga Mpontshane.
However, thanks to injuries and dips in form from the duo, Chaine ascended as the No 1 and has never looked back since.
Chaine won four trophies with the team in two seasons, while sending Ofori packing from the club and Mpontshane to retirement, which brought about the latter’s new role as the team’s assistant goalkeeper coach in the process.
So sure, Chaine will probably be sacrificed in the goalkeeping unit in favour of Ronwen Williams, Ricardo Goss and Veli Mothwa by Broos, but he can’t look at that negatively.
That he was even considered for the provisional squad means he’ doing something right, and Broos and his right-hand man Helman Mkhalele are taking note.