Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says Lyle Foster needs to rediscover his confidence heading into the World Cup.
The 25-year-old striker was selected as part of Broos’ final 26-man squad set to face Mexico, the Czech Republic and South Korea in Group A when the global showpiece kicks off on June 11.
Foster made the cut despite an ineffective season with just three goals in 26 appearances as Burnley were relegated from the English Premier League.
But he was withdrawn by Broos at half-time in the goalless friendly international draw with Nicaragua at the Amstel Orlando Arena on Friday night where he missed a late penalty.
Foster was replaced with Iqraam Rayners, but he was just one of a number of changes made the Bafana boss as he used the match to continue to look at differecent combinations of players.
“I think Lyle also needs confidence from our side, and a little bit better physical condition,” Broos said on IOL after the game.
“A good Lyle is quick and effective. You could see in the first half, he wasn’t — but that wasn’t the sole reason we changed him. Lyle is low on confidence. He’s doubting himself, and we have to work on this in the next few days during training. We must try and ensure that he returns to the level he was at a few months ago.
“I think he’s struggling a little bit, but he’ll be okay. We have enough time now to put him back where we want him.”
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Reflecting on his side’s overall inability in front of goal, the head coach added: “This has long been a problem for Bafana Bafana.
“It is challenging that Bafana doesn’t score much, although there was a period where we scored many goals. It is a little less now. We should have scored a lot of goals five or six months ago at Afcon.
“But it’s nothing to be worried about. It is something that can be restored quickly. We have players that can score goals — Lyle, Iqraam, [Evidence] Makgopa, and others like [Tshepang] Moremi.”