Johannesburg — Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has finally broken his silence on the omission of Lyle Foster for the Afcon qualifier against Morocco this month.
Foster has been a hot topic following his blockbuster move from Westerlo to Burnley, who recently earned promotion back to the Premier League.
And while Foster might have arrived in the second half of the season, he’s been Broos’ go-to-striker, scoring in Bafana’s first Afcon qualifier against Morocco as they lost 2-1.
His arrival at the Clarets hasn’t been without notable improvement – he scored a brace in Bafana’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Liberia at home.
With Bafana having already qualified for the Afcon finals, alongside Group K counterparts Morocco, the clash has been deemed a dead rubber by the public – but not Broos.
Broos is taking the game seriously as it will form part of their preparations for Afcon, and he named a strong final 23-man squad which excluded Foster.
After naming the final squad at SABC Studios, in Auckland Park on Thursday afternoon, Broos lifted the lid on why Foster will not be available for next Saturday’s game at FNB Stadium.
“With Lyle Foster I was doubting (calling him up) already because his last game was at the end of April. So that means he was on a two-month holiday before we played Morocco,” Broos said.
“Even when he was still training individually, I was still doubting whether to call him up or not. But (fortunately) the call came from Vincent Kompany, his coach.
“He asked me whether I can agree for Lyle to start the pre-season with them on the fifth of June, and he explained why. And I agreed.”
Broos’ decision to allow Foster to return to England for pre-season wasn’t only due to his relationship with Kompany – the Bafana coach gave Kompany his debut at Anderlecht at the age of 17 – but it’s in the striker’s best interest.
“I think it was important for Lyle to start the season with his new team when the campaign starts in England. And I said ‘okay’ – for once I will do that. I think it was in the best interest for Lyle,” he said.
“After the 17th, I think there’ll be one week of training and then they’ll again be on holiday. So I didn’t think that (Foster coming back) would be good for him. So therefore, I agreed to release him for pre-season.”
IOL Sport