Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has suggested that his fear has been realised ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations amidst three injury concerns and revealed who he blames.
Bafana have three injury concerns, all Sundowns players, as goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, Themba Zwane and Mothobi Mvala will miss a friendly game against Lesotho on Wednesday, which will be played behind closed doors.
However, Williams and Zwane's injuries are not serious and should be ready for next Tuesday's Afcon Group E opener against Mali but Mvala sustained a more worrying injury and is a doubt to travel to Ivory Coast, although the Belgian said he's hopeful he will recover.
Read: South African striker moves to Botswana
Broos suggested that he feared players would get injured due to fatigue, that's why he asked the PSL to go on an Afcon break earlier on 24 December but he's shocked they did not accede to his request.
"You know the discussions I had with PSL, honestly all these players were not really recovered, we see that and we feel that, that was my fear," Broos said in a press conference.
"You feel in training the measurements we took, the players were not 100 percent fresh and this is what I said already eight months ago when I asked them to stop on the 24th of December.
Read: My Locker Room Secrets: Sibongakonke Ndlovu
"Those players needed that, looking at the programme they had of games in the last two months and even from the beginning like Sundowns, they played every three days from August until December," he said.
"And again I don't understand that the league of a country cannot accept and stop the league on the 24th (of December). They even knew it before the end of last season, I'm really sorry to say it and don't tell me that they support Bafana Bafana. It's a laugh," he added.
Bafana have four players on standby, Orlando Pirates defender Tapelo Xoki, Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Sekhukhune United forward Elias Mokwana and Stellenbosch striker Iqraam Rayners.
