Why Pirates and Sundowns players will continue to dominate Bafana

For the past three years, Hugo Broos’ Bafana Bafana squad has been mainly dominated by Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns players.

Both teams have finished first and second in the Betway Premiership in the last three seasons, but Masandawana have been the better of the two teams, having won the league eight consecutive times.

The Buccaneers, on the other hand, won five trophies in three seasons and were arguably the best team in the CAF Champions League last campaign despite getting knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Pyramids.

Sundowns and Pirates players combine well at Bafana

On Thursday, Hugo Broos announced his preliminary squad ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria. As expected, both Downs and Pirates players dominated the squad; however, some Kaizer Chiefs supporters were not pleased that only two of their players were part of the 40-man list.

Amakhosi have started well this season, winning all three league games. Some of their supporters feel the likes of Thabiso Monyane, Aden McCarthy and Thabo Cele should get a call-up. Log leaders Sekhukhune United have only three of their players selected, but we don’t hear their fans complaining.

The truth of the matter is that Kaizer Chiefs have been winning matches but are still far from fluent and are yet to be tested. The team is still rebuilding and the likes of McCarthy and Monyane have done little to replace the likes of Thabo Moloisane, or Khuliso Mudau.

During the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Bafana had the majority Sundowns players, with a few Pirates players coming from the bench. The team finished third at the AFCON games and has continued success since then, with Broos sticking to the winning formula.

Against Nigeria, Bafana will need the likes of Mudau, Graant Kekana and Fawaaz Basadien to stabilise the defence. In the midfield, Broos will likely go with Sipho Mbule, Teboho Mokoena, Patrick Maswanganyi and Bathusi Aubaas, leaving no space for Cele.

This weekend, Masandawana and Pirates face off once again in the MTN8 semi-final second leg. The first leg ended in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Orlando, which was described as the best match of the season so far.

As long as Pirates and Sundowns dominate the league and do well in Africa, their players will dominate the Bafana squad for the next few years.