Hugo Broos explains why he is 'a little bit disappointed' over Shandre Campbell's situation after snubbing Club Brugge's star for Bafana Bafana's friendly against Zambia

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained why he had to snub Club Brugge's Shandre Campbell for South Africa's friendly match against Zambia.

The 20-year-old was not included in the final squad named by Broos for the November international engagement.

The Belgian has now explained what informed his decision and revealed that he is disappointed with Campbell's situation at Club Brugge.

The winger also missed the U20 World Cup after he was denied permission to join the Chile-bound South African squad by his Belgian club.

Broos is understood to have stepped in and tried to negotiate with the Belgians, but the club still refused to accept the call-up letter for the youngster, denying him a chance to play in the global showpiece.

“I think it’s a little bit the same as what I told you about the goalkeepers. It’s not the moment now to call those players; we are preparing for AFCON. Shandre is with that [provisional] selection of 45-50 players, like other players,” Broos said, as per FARPost.

“But I think just before a big tournament like AFCON, starting to change things, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Shandre is still there; I’m still watching him. I was a little angry about what happened with him because he couldn’t go to the Under-20 FIFA World Cup," he added.

“Brugge told me that they will give him chances. Well, when you see how many chances he’s getting, it’s barely anything. So I’m a little bit disappointed about that."

“But again, now for us, the most important thing is that we focus everything on AFCON, and that [selection] will also be something for later.”

Apart from Campbell, other notable players who are not in Broos' squad are Relebohile Mofokeng, Grant Kekana, Thembinkosi Lorch, and Siyabonga Ngezana.

Although Orlando Pirates' Mofokeng and Ngezana are highly expected to be part of the final squad for the AFCON finals, there is little hope Campbell and Lorch will make the cut.

In fact, Broos took his time to explain why Lorch is not in his plans, even though the former Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns forward is doing rather well with Wydad Casablanca.

“His performance was not good. Then I followed him; he played, then he didn’t play. At Pirates, he dropped out of the team, and then he went to Sundowns because Rulani wanted him," he said. 

"But after a few months, he didn’t play anymore. Ok, now he’s playing well in Morocco, but you also have to look at his age. This is not the future; I’m very sorry, this is not the future," added the Belgian. 

“If I shouldn’t have other opportunities, maybe I should take him. Maybe! But it happened also four years ago with Themba [Zwane], and I wanted to look for opportunities, and I didn’t find them, and I had to go back to Themba, and it was a very good decision when I took him because you saw what happened to the team. 

“But again, for Lorch for the moment, I don’t see, even though he has good performances in Morocco, I don’t see any reason to take him with the team."

The friendly match against Chipolopolo has been organised to help Bafana prepare for the upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals that will start later this year.

South Africa will battle their COSAFA rivals at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on November 14.

In Morocco, South Africa will face Angola, Zimbabwe, and Egypt in Group B.