The legendary Mlungisi 'Professor' Ngubane has slammed Hugo Broos for the exclusion of Orlando Pirates attacker Evidence Makgopa in the Bafana Bafana squad to do duty against Congo in back-to-back AFCON qualifiers.
South Africa will host Congo on 11 October, before traveling to Stade Alphonse Massemba-Debat on 15 October for the return leg.
Also absent from the 23-man squad is star attacker Percy Tau, but Ngubane says his biggest concern is the omission of Makgopa, who was expected to be excluded, due to not making it into the coach's preliminary squad that was announced last month.
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Veli Mothwa, Bradley Cross, Thapelo Morena, Siyabonga Ngezana, Bathusi Aubaas, Sinoxolo Kwayiba, Tshegofatso Mabasa and Mihlali Mayambela have all been omitted from the final squad after making it to the preliminary one.
"This means Mothwa's time at Bafana Bafana is over since he had bad games recently, but to me, it's the same because Ricardo Goss is conceding left, right and centre," the outspoken Ngubane tells KickOff.
"I like the Kaizer Chiefs defender [Rushwin] Dortley, he is strong, and he deserves to be there. He is a different player from what we already have.
"Thalente Mbatha also raised his hand nicely in the last qualifiers, but I'm not sure about Teboho Mokoena because he is not playing at [Mamelodi] Sundowns.
"Up front, I don't understand why a tall striker like Makgopa is not there. Broos should have included him in the preliminary squad. Makgopa always rescues him when things are going bad.
"How do you leave out such a tall striker when you are going to face Congo? He just scored two goals recently. He made a big mistake by leaving him out," adds the former dribbling wizards.
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Ngubane then went on to point out what the former Baroka FC marksman brings to the Bafana set-up.
"Makgopa is different from the rest, he's got that special something. He is not a busy player [that] you can easily notice. Makgopa is a silent killer. Congo believes in big players, so who is going to deal with those players during set-pieces if Makgopa is not there? They will struggle without Makgopa against Congo.
"If this squad was chosen based on performance, then Oswin Appollis shouldn't be there. I think he has played only once for his club [this season]. He hasn't been playing."