Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos regrets that he did not give opportunities to Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Themba Zwane from the start.
Zwane was consistently overlooked by Broos, with the tactician terming him ‘old,’ until September 2022 when he gave him a chance after which he flourished to turn the coach’s mind.
Since then, Zwane has been an ever-present figure in the Bafana Bafana starting XI and heading into this month’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Broos will have to do without the playmaker due to an injury.
Broos is already sweating over the absence of the 35-year-old, who had become a key cog in his team, before suffering an Achilles injury against Congo in October that will keep him out for at least five months.
Broos erred by not calling ‘Mshishi’ much earlier
“Themba is a big loss, very big loss. It's maybe my biggest mistake in South Africa to not take him from the first minute,” Broos said on Thursday, after unveiling his final squad for the matches against Uganda and South Sudan.
Zwane’s injury was the subject of a clash between Broos and his Sundowns counterpart Manqoba Mngqithi, the latter disappointed that the midfielder was not protected enough by the former, given his club had already started taking steps to manage his minutes.
Broos had previously questioned why Zwane had been sitting on the bench at Sundowns, going on to play him from the start in the qualifiers, but the decision seemed to backfire in Congo when he went down with the nasty injury.
Will Bafana Bafana feel Lyle Foster’s absence?
The Bafana Bafana boss has also explained that he regrets not calling up striker Lyle Foster earlier in his tenure with the Burnley forward set to miss November’s matches also due to an injury.
“Same for Lyle. Lyle was in a very good shape. He played very good games for us. He was the striker I wanted. He's got a lot of Premiership experience in him. He's strong, he moves more,” he added.
Bafana Bafana play Uganda in Kampala on November 15, before hosting South Sudan in Cape Town four days later, and need two points from both matches to qualify for AFCON 2025 in Morocco.
