Despite being pleased with the talent on display in recent international friendlies, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos admits he’s still struggling to find a player with the unique qualities of Themba Zwane.
South Africa concluded their June International friendlies with a 2-0 win against Mozambique at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Tuesday night.
In the first game, Broos’ troops played to a disappointing 0-0 draw against Tanzania at the same venue last Friday.
Bafana played both matches without players from Mamelodi Sundowns due to their commitments to the FIFA Club World Cup. But Broos also saw the opportunity to use the two matches to try out some uncapped players.
HUGO BROOS IS STILL WEIGHING OPTIONS ON HOW TO REPLACE THEMBA ZWANE
The 73-year-old Broos now faces a welcome selection headache due to the impressive quality and depth of his squad, as Bafana Bafana prepare for the World Cup qualifiers in September and the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
However, Broos said that there was just one position he was not entirely satisfied with during the two matches against the Mambas and Taifa Stars.
“I have to be honest and say until now we have not found a second Themba, that type of player,” said the Bafana coach. “But maybe we can solve it in another way. That’s something we wanted to see in these two games. We can solve it otherwise. Do we have to look? For the moment, we didn’t find a second Themba.
“But who can assure that Themba will be ready in September? he asked. So we have to look for other solutions, and we will see if we can solve the problem by playing in a different way.
“You can always say there and there, you have to be a little bit better. The only thing I can say as an example, against Mozambique is that [Sinoxolo] Kwayiba has a totally different style of play than Themba [Zwane], even if they play the same position.”
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