Bafana Bafana are back in the country and received a heroes welcome for their outstanding displays at the Africa Cup of Nations, but coach Hugo Broos looks back at one regret going into the tournament.
Many have lamented South Africa's lack of firepower upfront when the squad was selected for the Ivory Coast trip, particularly with Lebo Mothiba ruled out with an injury, but the biggest frustration was that Bafana's latest star striker Lyle Foster of Burnley in the Premier League couldn't participate at Afcon.
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Foster was recovering from his mental health challenges in England, and it was felt by his camp that it was too soon for him to take part in Afcon. When you look at how South Africa dominated teams with their pace going forward, other than the games against Namibia and their impressive win against Morocco, Bafana didn't convert their excellent performances into enough goals.
The South African football fraternity is then left with the thought of "what if Foster was in Ivory Coast?" It would have certainly bolstered Bafana's penalty takers too, considering how they were knocked out by the Super Eagles in the shootout, and only managed to scrape through against Cape Verde thanks to the amazing Ronwen Williams making four penalty saves.
So, when Foster started regularly for Burnley in the Premier League while Afcon continued, question marks were asked not only by fans but also by Broos himself.
“Honestly, I am not happy, I knew from the beginning what the issue was. I was understanding. I spoke a few times to (Burnley coach) Vincent Kompany,” Broos told the media, with Soccer Laduma present in the Ivory Coast, just before the coach's flight to South Africa.
Interestingly, like Broos, Kompany is also Belgian so communication between South Africa and the English club would have been relatively easier.
“Our doctor spoke to the Burnley doctor, and we put everything together and we decided it was not good to call him up,” he added.
Broos also revealed how the player wrote to SAFA requesting not to be included for the trip.
“Lyle Foster himself wrote a letter saying that he does not want to play in the Afcon. That was okay.
“But then he starts playing for his club and he plays every game for 90 minutes, and you don't (just) play on a weekly basis in England, you play several games in a week.
"Then I sit back and ask myself, 'Why wasn't it possible for him to come with us to Ivory Coast?'
"This is my frustration, but I will not blame Burnley or Lyle for that. I am frustrated when I see him play because we could have used him,” Broos said.
“He is a good striker and he scores. If we had Lyle, we would have been stronger.
“It was not only Lyle. Then you lose [injured RC Strasbourg striker] Lebo Mothiba. Losing two of your starting strikers before you start Afcon is not a good situation,” he added.
"On the other hand, I have confidence in Evidence (Makgopa), he can become a very good striker, but again, they have to work with him."
Bafana’s next fixture will be towards the end of March when they will face Andorra and Algeria in friendly matches to prepare for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
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