Broos claims that the AFCON team is 80% finished
Hugo Broos, the head coach of Bafana Bafana, has said that his team is between 75 and 80 percent complete for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco in December.
On Thursday, Broos revealed his 23-man roster for the November 15 international friendly against Zambia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
“I believe, I believe, and it’s easy to know that, maybe, 75 to 80 percent of the team is known. [The squad] is in my mind. Broos added, “The rest, all right, we’ll see what happens in the next month.”
The squad includes a number of players who were key members of the South African national team during World Cup qualifying, as well as newcomers like Masindi Nemtajela of the Orlando Pirates and Keletso Makgalwa of Sekhukhune United, who was nominated for both the Players’ Player of the Season and the 2024–25 PSL Footballer of the Season awards.
As he describes it as his last chance, Broos is utilizing the international friendly as a last chance to evaluate some players before AFCON.
It’s also the final game in which we can provide some new players an opportunity. There were a few new boys, as you can see when I read the choices. Some guys were absent or aren’t there because I know them, so I didn’t have to see them, but I used this Zambian game as an opportunity to call up some new players and watch them practice to see how they’re mentally prepared and perhaps to rely on them in the future,” he said.
Although he may have most of his team figured out, the Belgian tactician acknowledged that he still has some difficult choices to make. His final roster for the continental championship will be revealed in early December.
For me, there are certain choices to choose. If you look at the squad today, you can see that [Relebohile] Mofokeng and [Siyabonga] Ngezana are absent, along with a few other people. Thus, I must make decisions. And those decisions are going to be made now. I must make them. And I will make the announcement about the [squad] on the first of December, or something similar.
After placing third in the 2023 AFCON, South Africa hopes to make a comeback at the next tournament.
