Broos slams Pirates over Patrick Maswanganyi
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has slammed Orlando Pirates for their handling of the Patrick Maswanganyi situation, as the midfielder could not join the national team due to an injury.
Broos was addressing the media at the Ranch Resort outside Polokwane ahead of the Bafana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier tie against Lesotho.
The match between South Africa and Lesotho will take place at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday, 21 March 2025. The kickoff is set for 18:00.
Broos’ troops are in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers alongside Rwanda, Benin, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho. So far, Bafana are in second spot in their group with seven points from four outings. They are tied on points with group leaders Rwanda, but the East African country has a better goal difference.
WHAT HUGO BROOS SAID ABOUT ORLANDO PIRATES OVER PATRICK MASWANGANYI
The Belgian mentor – Broos, said that he was informed by Pirates about Maswanganyi’s injury on Sunday around 20:00, following the Betway Premiership match between the Buccaneers and Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium in Soweto.
He explained that Maswanganyi had sustained his injury during a training session on Saturday as Pirates were preparing for the match against Sundowns. As a result, he missed the game, which Pirates won 2-1.
The coach, now faced with a gap, moved swiftly. Rodney Maphangule, a midfielder from Polokwane City FC, was brought in as a replacement for ‘Tito’.
“If my information is right, he was injured on Saturday already at training or something, I don’t know,” said Broos. “So everybody knew that Patrick was with the national team. I thought at that moment they would call and say look, ‘Maswanganyi is injured and can’t play tomorrow [Sunday]. He can’t be in the camp’.
“That gives us more time to look for another player. So this morning, with all the other problems, we had to call him [Rodney Maphangule], and we are lucky that he is staying here in Polokwane. Imagine if he was coming from Chippa or whatever. That we had to wait, that means he would only arrive tomorrow here [in Polokwane].
“So yeah, a little bit more occupied with the fact that your player can play, injured or not injured, just give the information. You don’t have to call me. Call the [SAFA] team doctor [Thulani Ngwenya] and say, ‘Look, there is a problem with Patrick. He is not ready for the camp, okay?’
“But then we have to wait and wait. Last night at 20:00, I received a call from the team saying Patrick was injured.
“We don’t know, so just give information. What’s wrong with giving information to the team doctor? If they don’t want to give it to me, call the team doctor. It’s so easy, and it helps us a lot when we know it at the right moment.”
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