Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has praised Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos for his decision not to release Sundowns players early ahead of their final match on Saturday, stating that he would have made the same call if he were in his position.
The Brazilians are preparing for their Carling Knockout Cup final against Magesi FC, set to take place on Saturday at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.
Although South Africa had already secured qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco ahead of their Tuesday match against South Sudan, coach Hugo Broos opted not to release the eight Sundowns players in the 23-man Bafana squad early to allow them to focus on their club’s Saturday fixture.
“Sundowns players are till tomorrow after the game players of Bafana Bafana and they stay players of Bafana Bafana,” said Broos to journalists before the Tuesday match.
Mngqithi’s team includes ten players who were on international duty including Peter Shalulile representing Namibia and Divine Lunga playing for Zimbabwe. Lunga is expected to return to the country from Cameroon on Thursday morning.
“Believe me, if I was a national team coach, I would have used my best players yesterday because you want to build on that winning momentum, you want to make sure that you don’t start opening cracks within your team and people start to see some of your shortcomings when some of the players are not there. It’s something that is very difficult to ask of any coach to not use his team in an important fixture that is in front of so many people watching,’ said Mngqithi.
The 53-year-old hailed the work that the national team coach has done since taking over, securing back-to-back AFCON qualifications and instilling a winning mentality in the players.
“As for the national team qualifying for Afcon in such a very pleasing manner, I’m very excited and any South African that would not be excited with what is happening with the national team now, there would be something wrong with that person.
“I think we’ve reached a stage where we can be confident and brag about our national team because they are giving the nation exactly what the nation would have required from them, they are scoring goals and they are winning matches convincingly.
He added that Broos must be commended for his achievements at Bafana following the criticism that he received in his early days at the helm.
“We must applaud the work that he has done with the team because he’s come from a position where not many people thought he would do so much,” Mngqithi concluded.