Burnley Manager Vincent Kompany has reacted to remarks made by Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, after he aired his views on the absence of Lyle Foster at the just ended 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, won by hosts Ivory Coast.
South Africa, 1996 African Champions defeated Democratic Republic of Congo 6-5 on penalties to win the bronze medal after the match ended goalless at the end of 90 minutes.
Prior to the AfCON tournament, Kompany disclosed to the media that the Club’s medical team said Foster should stay in a familiar environment amid a battle with his mental health.
According to reports, Broos expressed his confusion with the South African striker’s decision to play for Burnley during the competition rather than represent Bafana Bafana.
Amid all these remarks from Broos, Kompany told Burnley express why Foster was not part of the team at the Afcon tournament.
“Physical fitness and mental fitness are two different things. You can be physically fit, but you can also mentally be in a position where it’s not a possibility for you to go away to a tournament for a month, if you are not in the right headspace or you don’t have the Capacity to deal with that,” he said.
The Former Man City defender also explained that the team has been open about Foster’s situation.
Groin injury to keep Foster out of action.
“We have been very open about it. You come out of the rehab clinic; you are dealing with a problem that is beyond football. It’s life. The timing of him returning to play or not, it’s absolutely not our decision. It’s seeing what happens and seeing if he feels ready to do it.
“The first thing we did was remove him completely out of first team football. We got care for him, but we are part of his rehabilitation, we are his support system. I can explain it again and again and I will do so by the way, because I expect this question to come again.
“We went to great lengths to try and explain the situation to all governing bodies. FIFA, Premier league, FIFAPro, PFA, South African FA, the Manager, we tried to explain,” said Kompany.
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According to reports, Foster will likely need to miss a significant period of season after surgery to treat his groin injury.
