‘Let’s forget about who plays for who’, says Sundowns legend on Broos’ selection

Mamelodi Sundowns legend Hlompho Kekana has joined the Bafana Bafana squad selection debate that saw the exclusion of Kaizer Chiefs players.

This comes after ⁠Bafana coach Hugo Broos selected 10 Sundowns players in his squad set to participate in the upcoming CAF AFCON tournament.  

The AFCON competition will kick off from Saturday, 13 January, to Sunday, 11 February 2024.  

Coach Hugo Broos named his final 23-member squad from his initial 50-man preliminary squad a fortnight ago, with none of Amakhosi players making the cut.

As a result, Broos’ decision to omit Chiefs players from his squad raised a lot of eyebrows. This left many football fanatics asking themselves if no one from Chiefs deserves a shot. 

Bafana played out to a goalless draw against Lesotho in a training match behind closed doors at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday. SA will depart for Ivory Coast on Thursday, 11 January 2024, for the much-anticipated AFCON tournament.

HLOMPHO KEKANA BACKS HUGO BROOS’ BAFANA BAFANA SQUAD SELECTION 

“I think the coach chose based on what he saw since the beginning of the season till now,” Kekana told FARPost when asked if the exclusion of Chiefs players from the Bafana squad makes sense. 

“So, what he saw, you and I can sit here have opinions and opinion doesn’t really going to change the situation now.

“I think we just have to support the boys. We support the boys for the fact that they are going to represent the South African flag. I think more than anything as South Africans, if we could forget who plays for whom and focus more on the badge is important.”

HLOMPHO KEKANA BRINGS IN THE SPRINGBOKS PLAYERS’ ANALOGY 

The former Bafana international went on to give an analogy with the Springboks players. Kekana reckons that Boks players don’t care about who plays for which team. But focus on getting fruitful results and bringing the trophy home. 

“I look at the Rugby boys; they don’t care about who plays for whom. They care about the end result, which is to bring the trophy,” he added. 

“If we take that mentality, I think we will go far in our football.”

Broos’ troops are pitted in Group E alongside Tunisia, Mali and neighbours Namibia.

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