JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 23: Themba Zwane of Bafana Bafana during the South Africa mens national soccer team training session at Orlando Stadium on March 23, 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)
Bafana Bafana’s over-reliance on Themba Zwane for creative spark will continue at the Africa Cup of Nations but for how long?
Bafana head coach Hugo Broos was vocal in the previous year that the national team needs to find a successor to Zwane, who carries the creative brains of the team on his own without an adequate competitor.
At the time, Broos revealed that he was eyeing Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Mduduzi Mdantsane as a possible successor in that number ten role.
READ | Rulani: I’ve learned things from Broos
Mdantsane was called in the friendly against Eswatini, where he replaced ‘Mshishi’ at halftime, but the team overall did not impress Broos in a goalless draw against Sihlangu Semnikati and with his lack of game time at Chiefs, he has not been called again since then.
Zwane remains the only natural number ten in the Bafana squad selected for the Afcon in Ivory Coast and the Belgian coach has suggested his search for the 34-year-old’s replacement will continue in earnest after the continental tournament.
“When you see our team for the moment, I think after Afcon we will need to have new players again, to play if we’re qualified for 2026 (Afcon), because there are already players 31, 32,” Broos said on PrimeSportsWithMahlatse YouTube Channel.
“Themba is 34 already, maybe it’s possible, I don’t know but we have to take into account that after Afcon we need to find someone to replace Themba,” he said.
The Belgian coach initially excluded Zwane from his selections while he was still new in the Bafana job and has admitted that he was wrong to judge the Mamelodi Sundowns forward purely based on age.
“It was not about Themba Zwane as a player it was about his age, I was thinking ‘Okay, in two years we’re playing Afcon, also World Cup (qualifiers)’, that was okay, Afcon is now, will he still be fit at that moment? Because it can happen with the player when he’s 32, 33 suddenly it can be the finish. Okay I cut my own fingers, I admit it (I was wrong). You see now how fit Themba still is, it’s amazing also at that age,” he added.
Broos’ biggest challenge in refreshing South Africa’s squad after the Afcon is that the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers are still ongoing, as Bafana will resume their campaign against Nigeria in June.
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