Former Bafana striker names his top three for Broos’ World Cup squad

Former Bafana Bafana striker Katlego Mashego has offered his thoughts on who should lead South Africa’s attack at next year’s FIFA World Cup.

Bafana’s December draw

Bafana will discover their group stage opponents on December 5 when the official draw takes place in Washington DC, the capital of the United States.

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Mashego believes Burnley forward Lyle Foster, who netted the winner against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League at the weekend, deserves to be Hugo Broos’ first-choice striker.

“For me, I’d look at the levels where the player is playing. I think it’s written in stone that Lyle Foster should be our number one striker,” Mashego told Phakaaathi.

“He plays in England and he plays week in and week out against top clubs, top players and in a top league, so we can’t be ungrateful and say that Lyle is not our number one striker.

“He’s our number one striker and he’s the only one that’s in Europe and playing against the best defenders. He should be our number one striker going into the World Cup if the squad was to be selected today.”

Competition for places in the Bafana Bafana squad will be fierce ahead of the global showpiece, which kicks off in June. He added that Mamelodi Sundowns forward Iqraam Rayners and Orlando Pirates’ Evidence Makgopa should provide strong support for Foster in attack.

“There are obviously other players that can be there and can contribute to the success of the team, like Iqraam Rayners who played at the Club World Cup and scored,” Mashego explained.

‘A different dimension’

“Then you have an Evidence Makgopa who gives you a different dimension and he gives you other things that the other two strikers probably don’t give you.

“He presses and he had a hand in two goals (against Rwanda) in an international game that everybody was looking at that would take us to the world cup and he came out trumps.

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“He played like a player who wanted to be in the team. For me, if we had to select the squad today, they would have to be my top three strikers in the country.”