AFCON: Hugo Broos Coach Clarifies Decision to Choose Makgopa and Lepasa As Replacements for Foster

• Hugo Broos recently announced South Africa’s final AFCON squad
• The Belgian tactician excluded Burnley’s Lyle Foster from the list
• The 71-year-old has opened up on his choices of Foster’s replacement

The countdown to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast continues, and a flurry of teams are raring to go all the way to clinch the highly coveted title of what remains the continent's biggest football tournament.

Among the contenders for the AFCON title are South Africa's Bafana Bafana. This Southern African team aspires to replicate their outstanding performance from the 1996 edition when they commence their tournament journey against Mali at the Stade Amadou Stadium on January 16.

Nevertheless, as the anticipation for this captivating tournament builds up, questions have arisen regarding manager Hugo Broos' selection choices. Specifically, the 71-year-old coach has opted for a lineup of attackers without a traditional centre forward.

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Despite the ongoing discussions about Broos' selections, the Belgian tactician has come forward to defend some of the players he chose.

Broos on his AFCON striker choices

The former Oostende manager, tasked with the challenging mission of guiding Bafana Bafana as far as possible in the competition, recently addressed his choices of attackers.

As reported by IDiskiTimes, focusing on the decision to rely on Zakhele Lepasa and Evidence Makgopa as his primary striker options—due to the unavailability of both Lebo Mothiba and Lyle Foster, who are dealing with injuries and personal reasons as reported by GOAL—Broos stated:

"First of all, I think Lepasa has already proven himself as a striker in the national team. He scores regularly."

"Makgopa was a striker with us in the early stages when I was coaching Bafana Bafana, and he performed well. He's now playing again with Pirates, scoring as well, and he has confidence."

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"These are the two I have to choose because Foster and Mothiba are not available. I have confidence in these guys. When you say they are not the same type, okay, give me a South African player who is the same type as Mothiba—I don't think you can name one."

"It's a choice again, and these guys were with us before; they have quality. I think it's normal that we choose them to go with us to AFCON—especially because Mothiba and Foster are not there."

The words of the Belgian manager seem to bring a sense of reassurance to the mounting tension surrounding the South African national team.

However, on a personal level, both Lepasa and Makgopa will be eager to repay the faith the manager has placed in them by granting them a crucial AFCON call-up.

Yaya Toure includes South Africa in AFCON favourites

Sports Brief earlier reported that Ivory Coast and Manchester City legend, Yaya Toure has picked his favourite teams to win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

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The 2015 AFCON winner surprisingly ignored his own country while listing the nations he believes can win the tournament in Ivory Coast.

Toure cited qualification form as the reason for his selection, with Senegal and Guinea Bissau part of the best.