Coach Khumalo confident Broos will pick promising Cosafa Cup players for senior team

Despite failing to win the Cosafa Cup title after losing 0-3 to Angola at the Free State Stadium on Sunday, Bafana Bafana B coach Vela Khumalo feels they had a good tournament and several players have raised their hands to be selected for future matches.

Khumalo emphasised the invaluable experience his squad gained — a squad largely made up of a number of players who are on the cusp of breaking into the senior Bafana Bafana squad.

“I think this was a good tournament,” he said. “It was more about us seeing other players that we need to have for Bafana Bafana to beef up. I think credit must go to the boys being called from recess and bringing them in for two days [and then] to come in and start playing.

“The preparations went well, I think people can see that we have a big number of players that are ready to help Bafana. These are the tournaments that are going to help us identify our strong points. I think we played good football, and one can say that out of the tournament itself, what we are lacking is that we are not scoring goals.

“We will need to get strikers who will come and score the goals.”

Khumalo added that it will be up to senior national team coach, Hugo Broos, to decide which players he will select from the Cosafa squad going forward and that he is confident some will be called.

“This [match] was more for Broos to be able to identify one or two players, [and] to say these are the ones I can take to Bafana Bafana first team,” Khumalo said.

“This tournament is definitely something that is helping us because we have a large number of players who are not getting call-ups, and if they are called for this kind of tournament, it is a plus for us and the country.

“So it is up to Broos to say who he needs to pick and [where to] beef up.”

Players Ime Okon, Aden McCarthy and Kamogelo Sebelebele all had a good tournament.

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