Broos on Zwane’s return to Bafana Bafana: ‘Only fools don’t change their minds’

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has explained his decision to include Mamelodi Sundowns star Themba Zwane in his latest squad.

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On Thursday, Broos announced a 23-man squad to face both Sierra Leone and Botswana in international friendly matches on 24 and 27 September respectively.

Both matches will be played at FNB Stadium.

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Now, Zwane’s inclusion raised a few eyebrows, not because he didn’t deserve the call-up but because Broos appeared to have swallowed his pride.

Upon his arrival as head coach of Bafana Bafana, Broos consistently said the reason Zwane wasn’t in his teams was because of his age, saying at 32, there was little he could give the team.

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However, Broos has changed his tune and believes Zwane can offer a lot to Bafana Bafana in these two friendlies, especially now that Percy Tau isn’t available.

In his own defence, Broos admitted that he said a lot of things that perhaps upset country about Zwane but said only fools don’t change their minds.

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Asked if he selected Zwane because of the pressure from fans who questioned his decision, Broos said he would have been influenced by that six months or so ago.

BROOS EXPLAINS ZWANE’S INCLUSION IN LATEST BAFANA BAFANA SQUAD

“Only fools don’t change their minds, I said a lot of things about him and certainly that he was too old,” Broos said after announcing the squad on SABC 1.

“I can confirm that. I came here and I tried to have a younger team. I tried to have a younger team and every time there was ‘Zwane, Zwane, Zwane’.”

“But every time I said, ‘but he is 32, this guy will be 34 if we qualify for Afcon,’ but when I see Zwane playing, I can see that it is a guy we need and we can use.

“He is an intelligent player, he can score goals and he has had great performances with his team. I think we need to give him a chance, certainly now as Percy Tau, Fagrie Lakay, Evidence Makgopa [and] Bongokuhle Hlongwane are all not there,” he said.

“It is four strikers who are not here. I wouldn’t be honest with myself if I didn’t call up Zwane now.”

“It is certainly not based on pressure; certainly not. If I should do it on pressure then I should have done it six months ago. The pressure was there from the first selection.

Every time, the question was there, ‘where is Zwane?’. It’s not because the pressure was there. But like I said, only fools don’t change their minds,” concluded Zwane.