Huge blow for Bafana Bafana as Tau, Morena forced to withdraw from friendlies

Percy Tau and Thapelo Morena have both been forced to withdraw from the Bafana Bafana squad set to face Guinea and France later this month.

Bafana Bafana departed for Europe on Monday and are set to play Guinea on 25 March in Belgium before facing the world champions, France on 29 March in Lille.

Broos revealed that injury had forced Bafana Bafana vice-captain Percy Tau to withdraw from the squad to face Guinea and Les Bleus.

Al Ahly confirmed that Tau suffered a bruise in his knee during their CAF Champions League 3-1 win against Al-Merrikh and will undergo more examinations.

Royal AM's Victor Letsoalo called in to take Tau's place.

Meanwhile, Morena came in with a late injury with a replacement yet to be named.

"It's been a stressful week with all the injuries and visa problems... I panicked a little bit because those two friendly games are very important to me," said Broos on Monday.

The Bafana Bafana coach said the friendly matches would be tough, but he was not looking for easy games.

"I'm happy with the guys that are here. After the evaluation that we made after the qualifiers for the World Cup, we needed a little bit more quality in our group, we needed a bit more power," said Broos.

"I said it already, for me, these are important games, difficult games, but I asked for difficult games. In the past, I am told that it was not usual for South Africa to play tough friendly games.

"This will be very good experience for all the players and for me, it'll be a good opportunity to see the new players and whether they'll be a good fit for us."

South Africa failed to qualify for this year's AFCON edition in Cameroon, something Broos said should never happen going forward and has made it part of his long-term vision. 

Broos hopes the