Head coach Nasreddine Nabi has had his say on comments made by Bafana Bafana head Hugo Broos regarding the absence of Kaizer Chiefs players from the latest national team selection.
The Belgian mentor made headlines earlier last week when decided against selecting a single player from Amakhosi for his latest Bafana Bafana squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.
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Speaking to media, Broos said he felt that because Chiefs is currently struggling, it did not make sense to call up the club's players, but assured that once Amakhosi improve, he would be more than happy to call up Chiefs players to Bafana.
"You can't say that Chiefs already is back. I thought [they were] maybe at the beginning of the season," added Broos.
"But I don't know what happened because they are still struggling. And I saw them playing against Cape Town - you can't say that everything is alright in that team.
"When the team is better, and players play better, surely we will call up players from Chiefs.
"But for the moment, I don't think that I have to call them because they are really struggling in the league and let's hope that not only for Chiefs but for all South African football that next year, they are again that team that big team…[that] fight for the championship."
Broos made particular reference, to midfielder Thabo Cele, whom most would have expected to be called up and described the midfielder as 'a very good player'.
"Yeah, sure [Cele will be considered in future]," Broos added.
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The 76-year-old's words' words proved prophetic just days later as the Soweto giants were humbled with a 2-0 defeat by relegation-threatened Richards Bay on Sunday.
Speaking to media after the match, Nabi said he respected Broos' decision against the selection Chiefs' players and threw his support behind Cele.
"We have to respect the choices and the decisions of the national team coach,"
"He is the one who makes the choices which doesn't take away our feeling that Thabo Cele is a very good player.
"We hope that in the future he will go back to the national team. We know that by working hard that time will come."
Meanwhile, Chiefs' defeat leaves on eighth position on the Betway Premiership log table with just eight wins from 22 matches.