Fall From Grace: No Orlando Pirates Players Have Been Called Up for Bafana Bafana

• South African top PSL team Orlando Pirates are facing a blow as none of the players of the club were selected for Bafana Bafana
• Hugo Broos named a trimmed 23-man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and Pirates did not make the cut
• Other players have been called up before but because of various reasons, they weren't selected for the national team

Orlando Pirates have no players in the new Bafana Bafana squad to face Zimbabwe and Ghana for the first time in almost four years. Hugo Broos picked his 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against the two countries in early September on Tuesday.

Surprisingly, none of the Pirates' players made the cut, which could be a sign of how far the once-mighty Buccaneers have fallen from grace.

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Thembinkosi Lorch, Innocent Maela, Ben Motshwari, Vincent Pule and Thulani Hlatshwayo have all been in the national team setup in recent months and years.

However, the tables appear to have reversed as neither of them have made Broos' team, which could be due to Maela's injury and Lorch's lack of Pirates gametime.

Pule and Hlatshwayo have lost their form and they had little chance of making Broos' Bafana Bafana squad, especially after he stated that he wanted to build his team on younger players, according to The South African.

However, Pirates' lack of representation in the national squad indicates that they have not done enough as a group. News24 reports that Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Ethiopia are in Group G with Bafana Bafana.

Only the top 10 finishers from each group (A-J) will proceed to the final round of qualification for Qatar 2022. They will then go into a draw and face off to determine the final five nations that will represent Africa on the international stage.

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Josef Zinnbauer says Pirates players are not developed

Briefly News previously reported that Josef Zinnbauer has finally spoken out for the first time since resigning as head coach of Orlando Pirates last week. Although it was a bit of a rocky ride, he said he enjoyed it. Zinnbauer stated he loved his time with the Buccaneers.

However, he admits that the Pirates players under his supervision lacked "basic football skills".

"I enjoyed my time as an Orlando Pirates coach, but players there lack development, basic skills. Especially the defenders, even a 17-year-old European defender can do much better than some 30-year-old PSL defenders," said Zinnbauer, according to Goal.

Source: Briefly News