Compliments of the New Year to all of you, wonderful Soccer Laduma readers. We are happy to be back and hope everyone enjoyed some time off during the Christmas break. With our batteries recharged, it is time to hit the ground running! Welcome back and may 2024 be a year of fulfilment for all of us, a year where we will be reaching our goals and making a significant and meaningful difference in our communities and country. Let this be the year we all make sure that we become better human beings and make South Africa a better country and place to be. May this be the year we protect our women and children, as male football supporters, and let love and peace prevail.
There has been a lot of reaction to Burnley FC striker, Lyle Foster’s return to action for his English Premier League side, which happened on the back of The Clarets making it clear that their player was not ready for action and that he was definitely not available for Bafana Bafana, as coach Hugo Broos’ charges prepare themselves for the much-anticipated 2023 Afcon in Ivory Coast.
For the uninitiated, Foster had been out of action for months, having last played in October, due to mental health issues that he has been dealing with. It was on that basis that the club decided to put him aside and make sure that he got all the necessary treatment and support, behind the scenes. They did all they could to protect him from public scrutiny, without him having to suffer from the daily pressure that comes with playing at the elite level, in one of the best leagues in the world. For all intents and purposes, through his coach – Vincent Kompany – Foster asked to be excused from the national team as it came as a surprise to them that coach Broos’ wisdom saw fit to call the 23-year-old up for Afcon, having not played for his team for months.
