Beleaguered Bafana Bafana head coach Joel Santana will get the opportunity to get a look at the depth of talent at his disposal when his local based squad tackle Malawi in a full international friendly at the Germiston Stadium on Tuesday night. Kick-off is at 7pm.
Santana named his 23-man squad on Thursday for the match and it was confirmed that the players would receive caps. Originally it was announced that the game would be a training match but it was later upgraded.
The squad is made up of players on the fringe of Bafana.
The exercise will do as much good for Santana as the young hopefuls in his squad. Santana badly needs to get up to speed and get to know what talent is in the Premier Soccer League.
The Brazilian born coach has not given the county much hope or confidence in his ability. He has won only one of seven matches under his charge. He also decided to go home for five weeks in July "to sort out his personal issues".
But now Santana must start learning and fast about international soccer. He has only nine months left to prepare the national team for the Confederations Cup.
Santana needs to get his act together as Bafana will be playing against the world's best teams in next June's Confederations Cup. The tournament which is a dress rehearsal for the World Cup in 2010, features world champions Italy, hosts Bafana and the six continental champions including Brazil.
Said Santana: "This is part of our programme to identify possible new players for Bafana. The programme concludes at the end of the year.'
Santana said that the Malawi match would be a good opportunity for players to showcase their talents.
"This will give me a good indication if certain players are able to make the step up from club football to national soccer," said Santana. "It also gives me the chance to give promising players another chance to play at this level."
One or two of the players could persuade the Brazilian coach that they are ready and deserve to be included into the squads to play Equatorial Guinea in the final 2010 African Nations Cup Group Four qualifier next month.
This match in the Equatorial Guinea capital Bata ends a sorry chapter in Bafana's history. Under Santana the national team failed to qualify for the final qualifying phase for the 2010 showpiece in Angola. Bafana have collected only four points from five matches.
Although the Equatorial Guinea game is meaningless there is pride at stake and Santana would be a fool to take an inexperienced side to Bata.
SuperSport's flying winger Daine Klate has potential and is included. He needs to show more consistency. But he looked the part when he came on at the start of the second half of the 1-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly recently. Klate looked class and added speed and skill.
His teammate and defender Morgan Gould plus Kaizer Chiefs classy midfielder Reneilwe Letshononyane, Bloemfontein Celtic keeper Shu-Aib Walters are among the fresher faces that will be on view on Tuesday night.
Others who need to shine at this level are Celtic striker Petrus Mahlatsi and the two new Orlando Pirates midfielders Lebogang Mothibantwa and Thulasizwe Mbuyane.
The players know that a good showing against Malawi would keep them in the head coach's plans for future friendly games and for a coveted spot in the 2010 World Cup squad.
The squad assemble on Sunday and will train at the Germiston Stadium on Monday at 4pm.
Tickets are on sale at Computicket outlets costing R20 and R30 for the gandstand.
The squad: Goalkeepers: Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs), Moeneeb Josephs (Orlando PIrates), Shu-Aib Walters (Bloemfontein Celtic).
Defenders: Nazeer Allie,Brett Evans (both Ajax Cape Town), Siboniso Gaxa, Bongani Khumalo, Morgan Gould (all SuperSport United), Mbulelo Mabizela, Robyn Johannes (both Mamelodi Sundowns), Innocent Mdledle (Orlando Pirates).
Midfielders: Daine Klate (S/Sport), , Lefa Tsutsulupa (Moroka Swallows), Kagisho Dikgacoi (Golden Arrows), Teko Modise, Lebogang Mothibantwa, Thulasizwe Mbuyane (all Pirates), Reneilwe Letshononyane, Gert Schalkwyk, Siphiwe Tshabalala (all Kaizer Chiefs)
No comments:
Post a Comment