Bafana Bafana begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaign next week and the omission of Premier League striker Lyle Foster continues to be a talking point.
Another former Bafana captain, this time Dean Furman who is also based in England, believes the absence of the star forward will be felt as he could’ve led the attack in the Ivory Coast.
This comes after Aaron Mokoena criticised Foster for participating in England but not for South Africa.
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“Lyle (Foster)’s gone through some well documented issues over the last couple of months. Nobody knows exactly what’s going on. Nobody’s had reasons behind it and it’s great to see him on the pitch doing exceptionally well for Burnley,” Furman told Sports Night Amplified with Andile.
“We’re all disappointed he is not representing Bafana. He is doing exceptionally well in the Premier League at the moment.
“He would have been crucial for Bafana’s attack and would have certainly aided Bafana going a long way in the tournament. So, it’s really disappointing not to see him there,” he added.
As the Afcon comes around, there is always the club versus country debate over the release of players. While Bafana miss Foster, Liverpool will miss star man Mohamed Salah in a crucial part of the season due to his involvement with Egypt, and Furman discusses his absence too.
“It’s something we’ve always seen whenever the Afcon comes around. I think the reason for that is the time of the year when the Afcon takes place.
“You only have to look at Mohamed Salah the amount of games he is going to be missing for Liverpool. He is their star man, key player and he is going to be heavily missed in this crucial part of the season,” he said.
On the other hand, Furman is very excited to see Bafana at the tournament, five years after he helped them to the last eight and will keep an eye on his former club mates in Ronwen Williams and Teboho Mokoena.
“I’m so excited to watch them. I’ve tried to watch the qualifiers as best I can. I’m excited to see this young group. I’m still in touch with Ronwen a lot, I speak to him a lot.
“I’m excited to see Teboho Mokoena who I watched grow up alongside me at SuperSport (United). I’m really excited to see him on the continent on the biggest stage on the continent. So, I’m hoping Bafana can upset a few along the way,” Furman added.
In their last warm-up match, Bafana played to a goalless draw with Lesotho on Wednesday. South Africa's Afcon opener takes place against Mali on Tuesday.
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