With some nations opting to take as many as 27 players to the upcoming AFCON, Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained why he prefers to stick to 23 players.
After qualifying top of their group in the AFCON qualifiers, Broos' men are set to jet off to West Africa to participate in the continental showpiece to be hosted by Ivory Coast.
READ | Broos explains surprise Blom, Hlongwane exclusions
Some surprise omission from the squad included that of US-based duo of Njabulo Blom and Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who were both regulars for their respective teams and for Bafana’s qualifying campaign.
With countries like Tunisia calling-up 27 players in their final squad for the Afcon, there have been some question marks on why Broos opted to stick to just 23.
Speaking to media after naming his squad, Broos explained that he felt it was beneficial to the team to stick to 23 players.
"First of all 27 or 23, it’s a matter of budget," Broos said.
"Secondly, I am not in favour of taking 27 players [to the tournament] to put four players in the stands every game.
"I don’t think it’s good mentally for the players. You take 27 players and you have more choices but I have enough choices from the 23. I don’t see why I should take four more players to the Afcon. Players also know that when you go with 27, he is number 25 or 26 and he will never play, never.
"So, why should I take 27 players? I don’t see what could be an advantage for me or the team. I took 23 with Cameroon and even then, there were three or four players who didn’t even feature for one minute," he continued.
"So, again, if you don’t have the right mentality, you can have big problems with 27 players because they just have to train and they are not on the bench. So, that’s the reason why I don’t take them.
"I have enough with 23 players. Okay, it can always happen that you have four or five injuries but I don’t think that will happen. I don’t think so, so I have enough with 23 to go to Ivory Coast."
ALSO READ | Broos announces final Bafana squad for AFCON
Bafana kick-off their AFCON campaign with a Group E clash against Mali on 16 January before meeting Namibia on 21 January and wrapping up the group stage action against Tunisia on 24 January.
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