Hugo Broos mum on shock Chaine omission, explains Leaner selection

Africa 19 March 2026 at 09:36

Hlayisani Magoro

News Editor

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos was tight-lipped when pressed about the omission of Sipho Chaine and explained the selection of Renaldo Leaner.

South Africa will host Panama in two friendly matches later this month at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on 27 March and the DHL Stadium four days later.

Though several players were snubbed from the latest squad, the exclusion of Chaine raised eyebrows, with the Belgian mentor opting not to delve deep into the matter.

“I will not give comment on players who are dropped for this camp, so I will not give comment either on Sipho,” said Broos when quizzed about dropping the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper who has 23 clean sheets in 33 games this season.

The veteran tactician attributed Leaner's call-up to his good performances at club level, and setting the wheels in motion for a succession plan.

“I think Leaner is a very good goalkeeper, I saw his performances with Sekhukhune so then you think about him. Secondly, as you know we have all goalkeepers of 30 years and more so that means we have to look at the future,” Broos added.

"I know Leaner is not a young goalkeeper but we have to look for solutions, if something happens with [Ricardo] Goss, with Sipho, with Ronwen [Williams], we must have something to back up and that's also a reason why Leaner is with us.

Furthermore, Broos went on to reveal that Kaizer Chiefs shot-stopper Brandon Petersen was in line to make the squad before suffering an injury.

“Leaner is with us but when you see also Brandon Petersen was performing very good with Chiefs, it was the same thing more than a year ago and suddenly his performances dropped, so we said no we don't take him,” he continued.

"I thought I could take him now but now he's injured but it's good that you have people to back up those guys who are always there, and one day we shall have to replace them. Ronwen cannot play until he's 40 years old.

"So, you have to look for the future and maybe those guys like Leaner, like Petersen are maybe the guys who will be the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper in the future