Broos has concerns over Sundowns players’ lack of game time

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos says he is concerned by the lack of time on the pitch some of his team may have had by the time they play their two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sudan and Uganda next month.

The delay to the start of the Betway Premiership season, which only kicks off after the international break, means that most teams have played far fewer fixtures than they would have normally at this point in the campaign.

Some, like Kaizer Chiefs, have not even played a single match, while Broos is also concerned about Mamelodi Sundowns, who will have played three games in the MTN8, but nothing else.

“It is a little problem, we have to be honest,” said Broos this week, as he announced his squad for the games against Uganda at Orlando Stadium on September 6 and away to South Sudan four days later.

“You only have players from Stellenbosch and Orlando Pirates who have played games in Champions League and Confederation Cup qualifiers, games you have to win or your are out (of the competition).”

Undercooked

Broos believes Sundowns, who tend to make up a large part of Bafana’s first XI, looked undercooked in their MTN8 semifinal against Stellenbosch, which they lost 1-0 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday evening.

“You saw Stellenbosch were in the game from the beginning, because they already had those (CAF) games,” said Broos.

“This was not the Sundowns we know, they have not played enough official games, games where winning and losing is important.

“Chiefs haven’t even played an official game yet. Because the PSL were negotiating a new sponsor, we wrote to them and asked if we could have the players a week earlier. But there are MTN8 games, so it is up to us to manage the problem I hope we can find a good solution to win both games against Uganda and South Sudan.”