South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has been forced to make a change to his final 23-man squad for this month’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Afrosport reports.
Broos has called up Rodney Maphangule to replace injured Orlando Pirates midfielder Patrick Maswanganyi, who missed his side’s 2-1 win against Mamelodi Sundowns in the South African Premiership on Sunday after sustaining an undisclosed injury.
Maphangule, who plays for Polokwane City, was previously named in the preliminary squad by Broos, with the 25-year-old having played 21 times in all competitions this season.
“Maswanganyi, I’m a bit angry because we only knew yesterday [Sunday] evening, and from what I heard, he was already injured on Saturday, so he couldn’t play yesterday, so we had to look for someone else today,” said Broos.
“If my information is right, he was injured in training, everyone knew he was in the national team and at that moment, a little call, to say look I’m injured I can’t play tomorrow, I can’t be in the camp, that gives us more time to look for another player. Just give the information, they didn’t have to call me, they could call the [team] doctor!
“What’s wrong with giving information to a doctor if they don’t want to give it to me, call the doctor, it’s so easy and helps us a lot when we know at the right moment.”
Bafana Bafana arrived in Polokwane on Monday ahead of their encounter at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium against Lesotho on Friday, with a trip to Abidjan to face Benin on Tuesday, March 25, following suit.
South Africa are second in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers with two wins, one draw, and one loss after four matches.
