Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos remains hopeful that the Mamelodi Sundowns quintet of Ronwen Williams, Tebogo Mokoena, Khuliso Mudau, Aubrey Modiba, and Bathusi Aubaas will be fully recovered for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
The four Sundowns players reported to the Bafana camp carrying minor niggles after playing the full 90 minutes in the Nedbank Cup final loss to Orlando Pirates on Saturday.
Defender Grant Kekana was injured in the Ke Yona decider and has been replaced by Kaizer Chiefs’ Given Msimango in the squad.
Broos expressed concern about Williams, who is nursing a shoulder niggle.
“These are two important games, so we decided to let Kekana go and replaced him with Given Msimango from Kaizer Chiefs.
“The second problem, well, it’s not really a problem, is Khuliso Mudau. Everyone knows what happened in the final on Saturday. After the medical check yesterday evening, the doctor and the player reassured me that it’s not that bad and he will be ready. He also trained today for the game on Friday.
“Third, there are minor problems with Tebogo, Aubrey Modiba, Bathusi Aubaas, and Ronwen Williams. There’s nothing to worry about, but the minor issues are there. However, they will not cause any problems for the game on Friday.
“The guys will train with us, although Ronwen will train a little less because of his shoulder. But for the rest, we are not overly concerned,” Broos told the media at Dobsonville Stadium, where the team is continuing their preparations.
The outspoken Broos also questioned Sundowns’ handling of their players, expressing shock at the team’s unusually long injury list.
“It is amazing that six injured players are from the same team. Sundowns have had many injuries this season, and everyone knows one of the reasons is their overloaded program—they have played a lot of games. But what is interesting is that 75 percent of these injuries are groin and hamstring injuries.
“So I think it has to be something more than just overloading. I hope the medical staff of Sundowns can find a reason for this because next season it will be the same.
“They will have the same program: the PSL, the MTN8, the Champions League, even the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the season,” Broos added.
Bafana will board a charter flight to Nigeria on Wednesday ahead of their important fixture on Friday, June 7. They will return to host Zimbabwe in Free State four days later.