Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has defended his decision to include Orlando Pirates’ Nkosinathi Sibisi in his squad for South Africa’s final group stage FIFA World Cup qualifiers in October, despite Sibisi’s lack of playing time.
Broos announced his 23-man squad, which included Sibisi, for the nation’s upcoming games against Zimbabwe and Rwanda on Thursday.
Sibisi ended the 2024/25 season on a high as the defender was chosen by Broos to captain Bafana Bafana in an international friendly against Mozambique on 10 June.
The 30-year-old was subsequently given the captain’s armband at Orlando Pirates after the team voted him to lead them, as is club tradition.
Sibisi would only feature in the club’s first Betway Premiership game of the new season before picking up an injury that kept him sidelined nine games.
In addition, he was unable to make Broos’ last Bafana Bafana squad which played against Lesotho and Nigeria in early September.
He made his return to action at the end of September, starting in Pirates’ 4-0 second leg win against Lioli in the CAF Champions League first preliminary round, and was on the bench for the team’s Betway Premiership win against TS Galaxy on Tuesday.
“Sibisi [has been] with us from the beginning. You can always count on him. The games he played, he always played good. Look at the last games in June,” said Broos
The Bafana Bafana coach cited Sibisi’s leadership and example for younger players as major reasons for his selection, other than his playing ability.
“He’s very important for the group. He’s also a guy that trains good. They have respect for him in the group, the younger players. He’s not a big mouth, certainly not, but he’s very important for the atmosphere in the group.”
Broos believes that now that he is recovered, his lack of playing time is a non-issue.
“He didn’t play so much in the last weeks because he came from an injury. It’s not a reason for me to drop him. Okay, when that goes on in the future, that’s another thing. But now we played a few games, still a few games with Pirates. Not this week, but the game before he played all the game. It’s not a problem for me for the moment to keep him with the team.”
Broos also referred to Sibisi’s experience as needed in South Africa’s backline.
“Again, he’s a guy I’m confident in. He has a fantastic mentality and he’s also a good player.
He’s on the bench, you need him. Okay, you don’t be worried about him. He makes his game like it has to be. And he is experienced. We don’t have so many experienced defenders anymore for the moment.”
Bafana Bafana do have an inexperienced backline, with squad members Malibongwe Khoza and Mbekizeli Mbokazi both under the age of 21-years-old.
