Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has revealed the reasons behind the snubbing of winger Kobamelo Kodisang from from this final 23-man squad for crucial African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.
Kodisang, initially named in the 35-man strong preliminary, was one of the surprise absentees in Broos' trimmed final squad set to take on Liberia on 24 and 28 March respectively in back-to-back afcon qualifiers against Liberia.
The snub comes as a surprise for a player who recently scored his 10th goal of the season on Saturday to help Liga Portugal 2 side Moreirense stretch their lead at the top of the log table to 13 points and strengthen their bid for promotion.
However, Broos has explained that the move was more of a cautionary one.
"We've been looking at Kodisang for the last weeks because he's been playing very good," said Broos during the Bafana Bafana squad announcement on Thursday.
"The only problem was the rhythm of the games. I saw three of four games in the second division in Portugal, the rhythm is very low. So, I don't think that I could take the risk for these games to call Kodisang.
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"So, let's hope that we qualify for the Afcon, that way we will have more chances to call players and to test them.
"I can do that now, but [what happens] if I call Kodisang and I'm not convinced - not of his qualities - but of the intensity that these two games will have."