'No one can tell me which player to select'

‘No one can tell me which player to select’ – Hugo Broos

‘Stop saying there should be players [in the national team] from that club. They will be in when they derseve it,’ Hugo Broos.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo broos. Image: Backpagepix

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says no media or chairman can influence his selection for the national team.

The 72-year-old coach named his 23-man squad to do battle with Lesotho and Benin ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. With Kaizer Chiefs players omitted from the squad, some of the club’s supporters questioned why the coach would leave out Thabo Cele.

Speaking to the media this week, Hugo Broos made it clear that he would select any player he feels deserves a national callup.

“When the player is ready, I’ll call him. If he is from Chippa, Polokwane, Sundowns or which ever team [I will call them’. Secondly, it will only be me who will choose who is in the national team. You can tell what you want, 100 times in the newspaper, radio, television or whatever, If I don’t want to call up a player, I won’t call him,” he said.

Hugo Broos hits back

Broos led Bafana to third place finish last year at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

“They are here because they deserve it, not because of another journalist or chairman wanted them in the national team. No one can tell me, who to select, I choose who I want,” he added.

“Stop saying those people [from certain clubs] deserves to be in the team or there has to be more players from that club, stop with that. They will be in when they derseve it,” Hugo Broos told the media.

Bafana host Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday before flying to Ivory Coast to play Benin.