Hugo Broos’ Afcon ‘double-edged sword’: to pick ‘Mshishi’ or not

Over the years, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos must have been confronted with countless selection headaches, but none trickier than the one regarding Themba Zwane.

Broos has included Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns’ talismanic Zwane in his 54-player preliminary squad for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco next month, but the problem is the midfield kingpin has not played competitively in two months.

The Downs attacker’s performances in the build-up to and during that Afcon in Ivory Coast made him one of Broos’ trusted senior players, if not the go-to player for his creative ability to unlock defences for the Belgian coach.

However, he last played competitively in the 3-0 Betway Premiership win over Magesi FC at Lucas Moripe Stadium on September 14, where he limped off with an injury.

That game was a return from a thigh injury in Downs’ MTN8 semifinal against Orlando Pirates. He has only played five matches this season (three in the league and two in the MTN8). And those early games this campaign came as he was mounting a comeback with a handful of league games at the end of 2024-25, a few minutes in the Caf Champions League final and then more, stronger appearances in the Fifa Club World Cup in the US in July, after coming back from a five-month injury from October 2024.

As a result of his assortment of injuries, Zwane also missed Bafana’s 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Rwanda and friendly against Zambia in the second half of the year.

His unavailability has opened the door for Orlando Pirates playmaker Sipho Mbule, who has grabbed his opportunity with both hands with some scintillating performances in the yellow and green.

Making Zwane’s race for match fitness tighter is the reality that Downs have just two matches left this year. The final squad selection chances for the playmaker, who was not even in the match-day squad for Sundowns’ last game in their 3-1 opening Champions League Group C win against Saint-Éloi Lupopo at Loftus on Saturday, would be boosted if he got minutes against MC Alger and Siwelele FC.

Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso may not be willing to give him an opportunity in the high-stakes Champions League clash that pits the Brazilians against former coach Rulani Mokwena. The match against AC Alger is going to be emotionally charged because Mokwena had a strong relationship with most of the senior players at Chloorkop.

Sports physician Dr Ntlopi Mogoru said this situation is a double-edged sword for Broos and Zwane.

“There are two possible reasons he is not playing at Sundowns. The first could be he is unfit and the second could be he does not fit into the system that the coach wants to use at the moment,” said Mogoru, a former team doctor for Sundowns, Bafana, SuperSport United and Platinum Stars.

“If coach Hugo Boos picks him, he is going to do that based on what he knows from the past. Zwane is currently not playing and it may be viewed as unfair by other people.

“Maybe the player should tell the coach that he is not OK, he is at the end of his career. [Then again] if it was a younger player who was going to play again for many seasons to come, I would tell him not to go because he might get a serious injury to ruin his career. ‘Mshishi’ has nothing to lose except [for the factor that] he can go there even though he is not fit to play and the coach would be sending wrong messages. This thing is a double-edged sword for the coach and Mshishi.”

Ahead of the last Afcon, Broos had a similar dilemma with defender Mothobi Mvala, who had injury concerns before the tournament, and the coach backed the centreback, who came through with strong performances in Ivory Coast.

“If the coach picks him, there must be a formal medical report from Sundowns saying he has been cleared, but the coaches are not playing him [for tactical reasons]. He [Broos] must find out why they are not playing him,” Mogoru said.