Bafana Bafana go into two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin over the next week without two key attacking midfielders in Themba Zwane and Patrick Maswanganyi.
The veteran Zwane has been unavailable since last October after going down with an Achilles injury in Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo. Maswanganyi, on the other hand, was recently withdrawn from the squad after missing Orlando Pirates’ win over Mamelodi Sundowns.
On the surface, the absence of the two players presents a problem for Bafana boss Hugo Broos, who is targeting a maximum six points from the two games. Without Zwane, South Africa are missing the key component that gets the team ticking.
Despite being 35, Mshishi is the creative heart of the team. Due to his ability and vast experience, he can sniff an opportunity with ease, and has been an important player in helping Sundowns win seven consecutive league titles.
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Without Zwane, Maswanganyi is the next best option for that role behind the striker. Now that Tito is also unavailable for selection, that leaves Broos with a potential selection headache on his hands ahead of the game.
But, should it?
When the Belgian named the squad last week, there was a return for Jayden Adams. The 23-year-old former Stellenbosch FC star last played for the national team last year, and has been left out of the last two squads for disciplinary reasons.
He’s now back, and crucially, he’s since completed a move to Sundowns, where he has continued to impress and has made a brilliant start to life at his new club. Like Zwane, Adams is good at creating goalscoring opportunities, and he can also put them away. And his age is a plus as Broos has often spoken about the need to find a long-term successor for Zwane.
Another positive for Adams will be the fact that in the national team, he’s surrounded by a number of club team-mates that will make life easy for him.
Bafana Bafana may be missing two key players, but adversity often breeds opportunity. In Adams, they have a rising star with the skill, vision, and hunger to step up when it matters most.
If he seizes his moment, these qualifiers could mark the beginning of a new era for Bafana Bafana — a team no longer reliant on past heroes, but driven by the promise of its next generation. Now, all that remains is for Adams and his teammates to deliver where it counts: on the pitch.
IOL Sport