Toronto FC forward Cassius Mailula has a tough task on his hands to make Bafana Bafana's AFCON squad after he was not selected in the latest roster due to his continued lack of game time.
Mailula found it difficult to make the Bafana squad regularly even when he was on-form at former club Mamelodi Sundowns, although he had managed to break into the national team towards the end of last season before he joined Toronto.
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However, the 22-year old has struggled for game time at his Major League Soccer club, as he made only one appearance off the bench so far towards the end of August, in a 2-0 win over Columbus Crew, where he replaced former Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne around the hour-mark.
In fact, the big reason for Mailula not playing regularly is the competition he faces in the forward line at Toronto, with the vast experienced Insigne and former Juventus striker Federico Bernardeschi playing ahead of him.
Bafana head coach Hugo Broos admitted that with South African strikers such as Lyle Foster, Zakhele Lepasa, Percy Tau and Bongokuhle Hlongwane all in good form, it will be tough for Mailula to return to the national team, especially with the competition he has at Toronto.
"If you compare that with two years ago, I have many good strikers for the moment. Mailula, okay it's a little bit difficult for him, it will be difficult for him because I looked at the squad of Toronto, (Lorenzo) Insigne is there, (Deandre) Kerr is there, he's an international player (for Canada)," Broos said in a press conference.
"Another one, I don't remember his name, who is an Italian international (Bernardeschi), so it will be very tough for him but okay we will see what happens with him, I hope that he can play as soon as possible so that we also count on him," he said.
Bafana will have one last international window for the year in November, after they play friendly matches against Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they will play FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
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The Belgian also recently dropped striker Fagrie Lakay, who plays for Pyramids, saying the player had not convinced him in terms of his form, despite the fact that he scored 10 goals for the Egyptian side last season.
Other overseas-based strikers, Kobamelo Kodisang (Moreirense) and Lebogang Mothiba (Strasbourg) have been given a chance to stake their claim ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in November and AFCON in January.
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