Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos named his preliminary squad with three injury concerns, but the door is now open for young players to stake a claim in the team.
With the Africa Cup of Nations coming up at the end of the year, players will no doubt be bringing their A-game to convince Broos to include them in the squad for the competition, and that starts now.
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Bafana are set to play against Lesotho and Nigeria in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September, two matches they want to collect maximum points from.
On the preliminary squad Broos announced, there are three injury concerns. Themba Zwane, Nkosinathi Sibisi and Deano van Rooyen are unlikely to be part of the squad, but this opens the door for some of the younger players to step up.
In the absence of Zwane, Relebohile Mofokeng has show that he can play in a number 10 role. Patrick Maswanganyi is also an option, but has struggled for consistent form with Orlando Pirates so far this season.
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Mbekezeli Mbokazi has stepped up as captain of Pirates in Sibisi's absence and is unlikely to be fazed by the challenge of performing at the highest level in the national team.
Broos is not likely to worry much about the absence of Van Rooyen, due to the presence of Khuliso Mudau and Thapelo Morena in the squad. Mudau, though, is yet to make an appearance this season as he sorts out contractual issues with Sundowns.
