Hugo Broos has ruled out the six Mamelodi Sundowns players who joined South Africa’s camp on Wednesday morning from the squad to face Nicaragua, saying they need another day to recover after their Champions League celebrations. The coach said the group is not yet mentally ready to switch back to World Cup preparation and may only be used for a brief spell if needed.
The decision lands just as South Africa is trying to use the Nicaragua friendly to sharpen its World Cup plans, with Broos wanting to test different combinations and give newcomers such as Olwethu Makhanya and Bradley Cross time to learn the standards he expects. The six Sundowns players returned after helping the club win the CAF Champions League in Morocco the previous weekend, and Broos said the final was energy-sapping enough to justify the extra rest.
“The last few days have been very emotional with Sundowns celebrating and having parties, which I’m not against because when you win the Champions League you have to celebrate,” Broos said. “They are not really mentally ready to focus on the World Cup just yet, and that’s why the Sundowns players will not be in the squad for the game against Nicaragua. They will have another day to rest, and in the worst case they might have to play ten minutes.”
Broos has made clear that the Nicaragua match is less about the result than about building the next version of his team. South Africa is heading toward a tournament where the opposition will have more experience at that level, and the coach wants his side to grow into games rather than simply play attractive football. He said the team must develop fighting spirit and the ability to win even when it is not at its best, something he said South Africa learned especially in Ivory Coast.
That longer-term thinking has been constrained by the schedule. Broos said he would ideally have lined up opponents from Asia, Europe and Central America, but South Africa has ended up with CONCACAF-only opposition in this window. Serbia was one possibility, he said, but it wanted to play South Africa on the 29th of May, while the Sundowns players had to play on the 25th of May, leaving no room to make it happen.
For now, the immediate story is simple: the champions are being slowed down so the national team can keep moving. South Africa will still face Nicaragua, but Broos is using the match to spread the load, protect tired legs and see who can take the next step when the World Cup picture comes into focus.
