St. Louis City midfielder Njabulo Blom's miscommunication with Bafana Bafana seemingly has another dimension.
Broos revealed that he did not select Blom in his previous squad that played the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers because the former Amakhosi midfielder told the national team that he was injured and later changed his statement and he viewed that as having an "attitude" towards Bafana.
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"You know, Njabulo Blom is not there at the moment because he sent us a message on Monday, saying that he was injured on his shoulder and he couldn't come to camp," Broos said at the time.
"So we asked for a medical report, and until now we haven't received one, we only received another message two or three days later that he can play.
"I don't think that is the right attitude or the right mindset [for players] to come to the national team, and therefore I didn't select him."
Broos also questioned Blom's commitment to the national team.
"Yes, okay, but the only thing I'm always asking myself is, when I see players saying they like to be in Bafana Bafana, 'Oh, it's an honour for me to play for my country'," he continued.
"With such an attitude, I have my doubts that it's an honour to be with the national team."
Blom's agent Rob Moore later clarified on Metro FM Sports that the 23-year-old spoke to the team manager Vincent Tseka about a shoulder injury before consulting with the club's medical department and the reason he changed his statement is because the club's medical team gave him the green light to travel to the national team, as the injury was not serious but the player could not get hold of Tseka to explain further.
Former Bidvest Wits midfielder Mark Haskins, who knows Blom closely, says him standing up for himself is incorrectly viewed as an attitude problem but actually the 23-year-old has a strong character of questioning decisions around his career, something that he likes about him.
"It's not that he didn't have the medical whatever the case might be, he literally had an exit physical that indicated that he had a sore shoulder, so it's just been misconstrued," Haskins said on Metro FM Sports.
"But I think ultimately at the end of the day, they say he had an attitude problem and all that kind of thing. I'm actually a big fan of Njabulo's attitude. I think more South Africans players should have his attitude.
"Njabulo is not a yes-man, I can tell you, you can go back to his days at Chiefs. He wants to understand every situation he's in. When he gets told to do something, he'll ask 'Why?' because he wants to understand, he's not just gonna run at the drop of a hat and I appreciate that about him. I can tell you he challenges me, he challenges Rob Moore (Blom's agent). When Rob says something, he wants to know why. He's not a yes-man. That's a big thing a lot of South African players need to understand, you must be able to stand up for yourself," he added.
Blom admitted that he was "frustrated" after travelling long hours from the USA and was not given any minutes in the final AFCON qualifier against Morocco at FNB Stadium back in June this year, where Bafana had already qualified before facing the Atlas Lions.
"It was a bit frustrating (not to play) to be quite honest because it was a long trip for me," Blom told the media.
"But I took it positively because I was also there to see my family. So I was like 'I didn't play, it's fine I just have to go see my family and then get back and keep on working."
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