SOUTH African professional football’s uncompromising attitude towards Bafana Bafana was again highlighted this week when national coach Hugo Broos outlined the benefits of up-and-coming players cutting their teeth in the Cosafa Cup competition.
Broos highlighted the problem during an SABC broadcast this week when he unveiled Bafana’s 23-man squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Uganda and South Sudan.
The Belgian tactician said the lower-tier competition was excellent for Under-23 players to experience international competition. In the past few seasons, Premier Soccer League clubs refused to release players for the Cosafa Cup.
More recently, matters have worsened after the First Division clubs also refused to release players for Cosafa Cup duty. As a result, for Safa to field a team, the Cosafa Cup squad is drawn from the amateur ranks.
Some players made their international debuts at the Cosafa Cup and later became key players for Bafana at the highest levels of continental competition.
“Every year we make the list of players we would like for the Cosafa Cup but the list we make and the players we get are never the same,” said Broos. “We end up saying ‘these are not the players we need and there is nothing we can do because we have to play Cosafa Cup’.
“The solution has to come from the (PSL) league. They have to force clubs to release players for the Cosafa Cup and that’s all.”
The Cosafa Cup does not fall in the Fifa international window and so clubs are not obliged to release players. Also, the Cosafa Cup is usually held during the pre-season for local pro clubs. They are reluctant to lose players during that important stage of preparing for the new season.
Broos argued that players will enjoy match fitness by playing Cosafa Cup and it will prepare them for the new league season.
“The (Cosafa Cup) tournament is during pre-season, so there shouldn’t be a problem. The players may have even a better pre-season because they will be playing matches in a tournament,” said Broos.
“We have not succeeded in having those players and that was a pity.”
The Cosafa Cup experience has played an important part in the development of players who have moved on to higher-tier events.
“We can look at (Rushwin) Dortley, (Nyiko) Mobbie and a few others. They were selected for the Cosafa Cup and we took them because we saw potential. I don’t know what the problem is but I think it will be a good initiative if we can take the players we want to Cosafa next year.
“They play Cosafa and after that maybe Afcon or even Chan qualifiers. We do not take players who are playing out of the country. We need those players who are playing in the PSL and who play for their clubs.”
Dortley and Mobbie have been included in Bafana for next week’s matches against Uganda and South Sudan.
Bafana open their Group K Afcon account against Uganda at Orlando Stadium on Friday at 6pm and then go to South Sudan on Tuesday (September 10).
Full Bafana Bafana squad:
Goalkeepers - Ricardo Goss, Veli Mothwa, Sipho Chaine.
Defenders - Sydney Mobbie, Thapelo Morena, Rushwin Dortley, Nkosinathi Sibisi, Aubrey Modiba, Khuliso Mudau, Fawaaz Basadien, Siyabonga Ngezana, Grant Kekana.
Midfielders - Teboho Mokoena, Jayden Adams, Sphephelo Sithole, Thalente Mbatha.
Forwards - Themba Zwane, Oswin Appolis, Patrick Maswanganyi, Iqraam Rayners, Lyle Foster, Relebohile Mofokeng.