Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos admits there are budget constraints about his squad selection but is generally not in favour of having more than 23 players.
Mali, Tunisia and Namibia look set to bring 27 players to Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations, while Broos named a 23-man squad with three players on standby.
When asked about his reluctance to add more players, he stated one reason was the budget and two, is to keep the squad in harmony over the month in West Africa.
“The 27 or 23 players is a matter of budget, so that is one [reason for it], secondly, I’m not [fond] of taking 27 players with me, to put four players in the stands every game,” Broos said when asked about the squad number.
“I don’t think it’s good mentally for players, so you take 27 then you have more choices but I have enough choice with 23, I don’t see why I should take more players more to AFCON. Players know when you go with 27, the number 26 or 27 will never play.
“So why should I take 27, what is the advantage for me or the team? I [won AFCON] with 23 players at Cameroon and even there, three or four players didn’t play one minute – so if you have players who don’t have the right mentality, you could have big problems.
“They will just train, not on the bench, so that’s the reason I don’t take them, I have enough with 23 – okay it can happen that you suddenly have four or five injuries but I don’t think it will happen – I have enough with 23 to go to Ivory Coast.”
South Africa will report for camp on 4 January before their trip to the Western Cape where they will be based at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport (SAS) High Performance Centre.