Broos faces tough call over Bafana Bafana strike choice

Broos had named Percy Tau in the squad, only for the Al Ahly forward to pull out due to injury. While Tau has for the past couple of years been Bafana's talisman up front, the former Mamelodi Sundowns attacker's constant injury issues have hampered his progress.

GOAL looks at the pros and cons of the five strikers in the squad - Lyle Foster, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Evidence Makgopa, Fagrie Lakay, and Victor Letsoalo.

Somewhat ironically, considering he was only called up to the South African side after an injury to Tau, Letsoalo is one of the few forwards in the Bafana side who have been scoring regularly.

He has fired in 11 league goals for Royal AM and already has four goals for SA in nine matches. The question is whether Broos considers him worthy of leap-frogging the queue, having been a late call-up.

Hlongwane has done well for Bafana Bafana over the past year, and has the physical attributes - power and pace - to be a top international striker.

The 21-year-old has however not yet done much for new club Minnesota United in the MLS, having started one game and appeared three times off the bench, without scoring. Last season at Maritzburg United he scored only one league goal in 16 games, so he's hardly a striker amongst the goals.

Lakay is still finding his feet in Egypt after signing for Pyramids, where he has played just nine times in the league and cup. Prior to that, he had been coming along nicely with Cape Town City after netting nine goals last season and five in the current campaign.

At 24, time is on his side. Momentum though is not currently with Lakay, having last scored seven games ago. He does however at least deserve 30 minutes off the bench against Guinea because he has plenty of potential.

Like Hlongwane, Makgopa, 21, almost seems to reserve his best form for the national side. But at club level, the youngster has scored only three goals in 22 league and cup matches this term, his cause not helped by playing for bottom-of-the-table Baroka FC. He's scored three goals in six matches for Bafana, and does bring something different with his height, assured first touch and strong link-up play.

Foster has had a decent season, scoring five goals in 24 games in all competitions for Westerlo, a Belgian second division side. At 21-years-old, he looks one for the future but the former Orlando Pirates striker is yet to prove himself and does have only eight league goals in his senior career which started in 2017.

Broos could potentially play just one out-and-out striker, possibly a targetman like Makgopa or the more mobile Letsoalo, and then use two wide players for support. Keagan Dolly's club form for Kaizer Chiefs on the right wing makes him a good option, while Hlongwane performs well as a left-winger where he can cut inside or use his blistering speed to go around the outside.