Helman Mkhalele has named the Bafana Bafana squad for the upcoming Cosafa Cup, and it features a number of noticeable absentees.
While the preliminary squad announced last week looked strong and featured a number of promising players, the final 23-man selection had no players from Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, nor Mamelodi Sundowns.
Bafana head coach Hugo Broos said he hoped to use competitions like the Cosafa Cup and the CHAN to build an experienced national pool, but that idea seems to have been kiboshed.
After naming the squad, Bafana assistant coach Mkhalele, who will be in charge of the team during the Cosafa Cup, said: “For us to be able to compete and achieve our results, our view is that it is important to have more players to select from, but more importantly, players with the required competency to perform at the highest level of football.
“As we observed during the Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire earlier this year, the football on the continent has improved drastically. So, for us to sustain the current performance of Bafana Bafana and improve it, it is important that we have players that can perform at that level without any doubt.”
The Cosafa Cup runs from 26 June to 7 July, and South Africa will be in Group A alongside Mozambique, eSwatini and Botswana.
IOL Sport