Orlando Pirates defender Thulani Hlatshwayo has opened up his continued exclusion from the Bafana Bafana squad having served as the national team captain for four years.
The experienced player lost his place in the Bafana squad following the appointment of Hugo Broos as the new head coach in May this year and the Belgian tactician is yet to call-up Hlatshwayo since he took charge of the team.
Broos named SuperSport United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams as South Africa's new captain last month - replacing Hlatshwayo, but the Soweto-born player insists that he cannot be mad or sadden by his continued omission from the squad.
“I think it would be unfair for me to say I’m sad or mad because the national team is not about Tyson, it’s not about Thulani,” Hlatshwayo said on Sowetan.
“It’s our national team and each and every player who’s good enough deserves to be in the national team, be it the captain or no captain, but he deserves to be in the national team.
"You’re selected based on the performance that you’ve displayed. When you looked at the previous team, which is the one that failed to qualify for Afcon 2021, I think it was probably time for the change."
Tyson made his international debut for Bafana in 2013 and he has since played 48 times for the Southern African giants and he led the team to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.
“You know sometimes we don’t want to mention it as players, that it’s time for change, and before us there were people there. We also came and took over from your [Siyabonga] Sangweni and Morgan Gould who were there before us," he continued.
“So I think now it’s time to build the team with the players who are doing well. It’s players who have international experience, not only at youth level, but also in the senior national team. The team have done very well, and they have started the qualifiers well.
"So to answer the question of the captaincy and everything, I feel like the one who’s captaining the team deserves it. Ronwen deserves it. And as to whether Tyson is mad or what, I’m not. I will keep supporting the team, because it’s not about an individual, but our team as a country.”
Hlatshwayo also made it clear that he will continue to work hard to impress Broos and he admitted that Bafana have started well under experienced mentor having recorded a draw and a win in their first two matches in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
“Like I mentioned before, the only way you can be called into the national team is when you’re doing well for your team. So I have to do well for my club, Pirates," he added.
“I think the team started well. We’re a results-driven country and for the team to go to Zimbabwe and get a point, it was good enough. We’ve learnt that with the qualifiers you have to win your home games. You have to win your home games, because you get to away games and they mess up the plan.
“We started well against Ghana, and it was a big win. I’m looking at Ghana because we played them [in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers] ... the very same Ghana, with the team that we had and we played a draw against [at home]," he explained.
“With this team we’re rebuilding and they [won] against Ghana. [But] we shouldn’t be too confident though and have the mentality of saying, ‘it’s Ethiopia and we’ve just beat Ghana now."
South Africa will now take on Ethiopia twice in the World Cup qualifiers with the first match set to be played on Saturday in Addis Ababa, before Bafana host the Walia Ibex next week Tuesday.
“The team needs to do well against Ethiopia and not underestimate anyone, because we have history against them during the Bernard Parker days [Parker scored an own goal in a 2-1 away defeat against Ethiopia in 2013 in what was a 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier]," he continued.
“We have to respect them and not forget that we’re as good as our last game, and I think we did well against Ghana. I’m wishing the team the best of luck.”
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