Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has admitted he got his team selection wrong in his early days in charge of the South African national team.
After taking over the national team back in 2021, Broos raised a few eyebrows when some of his first squads featured no players from Mamelodi Sundowns.
Sundowns were the kings of South African football — they still are — and were stocked with some of the best players in the country.
One of the players who was snubbed back then was Themba Zwane, who was helping Sundowns win title after title.
However, Broos changed his mind in 2022, and since then, they’ve never looked back. In the last two years, Zwane has become the most important player in Broos’ team.
The 35-year-old was at his best when Bafana won the bronze medal at the last Africa Cup of Nations, and when he got injured last month, panic could be heard ringing all across the country such is his importance to the cause.
Speaking about the days when he continually left him out of the team, Broos said: “This may be my biggest mistake I made here in South Africa, not to take him from the first minute.
“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,” Broos told the SABC.
“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,” said Broos.
With Zwane already on the wrong side of 35, Broos acknowledged how important it was to find a worthy successor in the playmaking role for the national team.
In his injury-forced absence, Orlando Pirates’ Patrick Maswanganyi will be given the responsibility of filling Zwane’s massive shoes, and on Thursday got the backing of the Belgian.
“... I’m still believing that he [Maswanganyi] has the potential to replace Themba. He didn’t show it for the moment in Bafana Bafana, but okay, we will see,” Broos said on Thursday.
Bafana squad
Goalkeepers: Ronwen Williams (c), Sage Stephens, Sipho Chaine.
Defenders: Nyiko Mobbie, Rushwin Dortley, Nkosinathi Sibisi, Aubrey Modiba, Mothobi Mvala, Khuliso Mudau, Fawaaz Basadien, Siyabonga Ngezana.
Midfielders: Teboho Mokoena, Bathusi Aubaas, Thalente Mbatha, Luke Le Roux.
Forwards: Evidence Makgopa, Oswin Appollis, Patrick Maswanganyi, Iqraam Rayners, Mihlali Mayambela, Elias Mokwana, Relebohile Mofokeng, Thapelo Morena.
IOL Sport