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Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has admitted that his side missed Themba Zwane and his attempt to replace him with Lyle Foster didn’t really work out.
Zwane had to withdraw from the two international friendly matches after suffering a cut near his eye in the MTN8 semi-final first leg against Kaizer Chiefs.
Broos had already lamented Zwane’s absence in the 0-0 draw with Namibia, and again highlighted his importance, which comes to show by the fact that Bafana are struggling to replace him – something Broos insisted they need to prepare for ahead of the crunch 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
“It was a tough game, it was a difficult game for us,” Broos said after the match.
“That’s why I like to play those games because you learn a lot about us. We knew that we had a little problem because Themba Zwane is not there, so we needed to find a solution.
“I can’t say that it was bad with [Lyle] Foster, with Zakhele [Lepasa], but I don’t think it was also good.
“We need to be prepared because it can happen also in the next games that we have that problem.
“Secondly also, I think for this team at the moment, having five to six players injured is a little bit too much.
“Themba Zwane is not there, [Teboho] Mokoena is not there, [Bongokuhle] Hlongwane is not there and another few, I think it’s a little bit too much.
“And we don’t have really a solution for the moment to replace them. This is also something we have to do in the future because it can happen in AFCON, it can happen also in the qualifiers in November.”
Bafana, though, did manage to come away with a 1-0 win, and the result pleased the Belgian tactician, even though he admitted the visitors were the better side.
“But on the side I’m happy with what I saw, I’m happy that we won the game because that was very important,” he added.
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“But again, there were lots of moments in the game that Congo was the better team.”