Kaizer Chiefs' low number of players in the Bafana Bafana squad could be hurting them in the long run, after former Mamelodi Sundowns striker Katlego Mashego revealed what impressed him with the Tshwane giants' big Carling Knockout win.
Before signing Rushwin Dortley from Cape Town Spurs, Chiefs had no player representation in Bafana and in the previous final 23-man squad for back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations matches against Congo-Brazzaville, Dortley was the only player from the Soweto giants in the roster.
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In the pool of the 38-man preliminary squad, ahead of the final two AFCON qualifiers against Uganda and South Sudan, they had only one extra player, in Bradley Cross.
Although Amakhosi competed well against Sundowns in a league game they lost 2-1, they were outclassed in the Carling Knockout quarter-final after a 4-0 thrashing by Manqoba Mngqithi's charges.
According to Mashego, the Chloorkop-based outfit playing with a vast majority of Bafana stars in the starting line-up gave them an upper hand.
"The one thing I liked about that game was that in all the positions, [Sundowns] had the best players that play for the national team," Mashego said on The Pitchside Podcast, published on Sundowns' YouTube Channel.
"The guys that played that game are guys at a level that is maybe just above what we see in the PSL. Because of the success of the team, the players that go to the national team, they come back and improve the players not in the national team.
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"Sundowns have top players. But I'm a little bit disappointed, they deserved eight [goals]. It was so dominant for Sundowns that it was actually sad for the league, the way they dominated possession, when they wanted to attack," the ex-Orlando Pirates man added.
In the previous transfer window, Chiefs were linked with Bafana stars such as Fawaaz Basadien (Stellenbosch FC), Oswin Appollis (Polokwane City) and Elias Mokwana (before he joined Esperance de Tunis from Sekhukhune United), among others.