By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has defended his decision to invite to the presidential dinner the six players he left out of the 26-man squad to the World Cup in Mexico, Canada and US.
There were few surprises from Broos as he largely stuck with the players who earned a first appearance at the global finals for Bafana Bafana in 16 years.
South Africa face co-hosts Mexico in the tournament opener on 11 June, before Group A clashes with Czech Republic in Atlanta (18 June) and South Korea in Monterrey (24 June).
Broos explained that because Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns had club fixtures that weekend, he feared potential injuries.
Taking all 32 players to the announcement avoided the logistical and psychological burden of abruptly calling up disappointed players as replacements.
Broos snubbed goalkeeper Brandon Petersen, who has been knocking on the door in the Bafana Bafana squad with his impressive performance that propelled Kaizer Chiefs to the third spot and sealed CAF Confederation Cup qualification.
The 31-year-old was named in the preliminary World Cup squad, but in the end Broos chose Orlando Pirates’ Sipho Chaine and Siwelele’s Ricardo Goss as back-ups to captain Ronwen Williams.
“When we make selection there has to be a certain balance. Do we have height in our selection? Do we have players in good shape? And do we have players who are not with us for the first time?”
“That is the reason Petersen is not with us. He was with us for only two days. I said to him yesterday, after we came back from the (final squad) announcement, that I had to choose two out of Goss, Chaine and him.”
“If you look at their quality, you can’t choose. So, on what level do you choose? Integration.”
“We only had one good training session on Tuesday and that was it. I don’t know Brandon as a human being, so in two days, I can’t know how he will react to not playing.”
“That made me choose not to take Brandon.”
Petersen was left out alongside his Chiefs teammates Lebohang Maboe and Thabiso Monyane after initially making the preliminary squad. The other players who missed out are Patrick Maswanganyi, Thapelo Morena, and Brooklyn Poggenpoel.
Broos appeared emotional as he embraced the excluded players and greeted each one individually, perhaps in an attempt to console them.
South Africa have appeared in three previous World Cup finals, having debuted in 1998. They qualified again in 2002 and hosted the tournament in 2010. They exited in the group stages each time.