Burnley's Lyle Foster dropped as South Africa keep World Cup hopes alive
Lyle Foster sits out as South Africa play out World Cup draw
Burnley’s Lyle Foster was dropped as South Africa kept their World Cup qualifying hopes alive.
Bafana Bafana bounced back from their opening group game defeat to Mexico by drawing with Czechia.
Their hopes of reaching the knockout stages were left hanging by a thread when they went 1-0 down to Michal Sadilek’s first-half strike.
But an 83rd-minute penalty from Teboho Mokoena secured a late point for Hugo Broos’ side as they got their tournament up and running.
Realistically, South Africa will now need to beat South Korea in their final group game on Thursday (2am kick-off UK time).
Foster started South Africa’s group opener against Mexico, but struggled and was swiftly subbed off at the start of the second half.
That resulted in the striker being dropped for tonight’s draw and he remained an unused substitute.
It comes after Broos recently spoke about how Foster was suffering with confidence issues following a disappointing campaign with Burnley.
The 25-year-old scored just three goals all season as the Clarets were relegated back to the Championship.
He also endured a difficult end to the season, where he saw just 21 minutes of action under interim boss Mike Jackson during the final four games.
“You have to know that Lyle, in the last three or four games, didn't play much since the change of coach. He was [at times] not even on the bench,” Broos said.
“I think Lyle needs a bit of confidence from our side, and also a little bit better physical condition.
"A good Lyle, he is quick, he is active. But you see, at the moment, Lyle is not big on confidence.”