Shabba out, five new caps for Bafana Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund included five uncapped players in his 23-man squad for the international friendly against Morocco

Football | Bafana Bafana

 

 

Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund included five uncapped players in his 23-man squad for the international friendly against Morocco, scheduled for October 11 at Agadir Stadium in Agadir City. Kick-off is at 9pm (CAT).
Igesund picked a balanced squad comprising youth and experience with an average age of 24 years.
The five uncapped players are goalkeeper Ronwen Williams (SuperSport United), defender Kgosi Ntlhe (Peterborough), Sibusiso Vilakazi (Bidvest Wits), Ayanda Patosi (Lokeren) and Keagan Dolly (Ajax Cape Town).
Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala has been left out due to injury.
Twelve players are from the PSL, with the other eleven being overseas-based. The Bafana coach also went for the middle ground regarding Orlando Pirates players as he selected only one.
“We seriously had to sit down and look at Pirates’ situation. We need to support them in this campaign hence I decided to leave their players out as we don’t want to jeopardise their preparations in any way,” said the Bafana Bafana mentor.


They will be playing in the semifinal of the Caf Champions League in Tunisia a few days after Bafana Bafana’s return from Morocco.
“Next year it could be Ajax Cape Town or Moroka Swallows or any other team and we will do exactly the same thing. We hope their success will rub off on the national team as it did in 1995 when Pirates won the continental title and Bafana Bafana lifted the Afcon trophy the following year,” he added.
The squad assembles on Sunday, 6 October and will depart for Morocco on Monday, 7 October.
“When Morocco invited us to play at the new stadium, we jumped at the opportunity because of the fact that between now and the 2015 Afcon qualifiers there are only two Fifa calendar dates to prepare for those qualifiers.

“So this gives me a great opportunity to have a look at some players and, had we not taken this opportunity we would have had to wait for March 2014 to prepare for our first qualifier in September. Half of the team I selected will represent us in the Chan while the other will feature in the qualifiers, so it’s a two-pronged approach,” said Igesund.
“We are playing a very formidable team and you know North African teams are strong and will give us a stern test. This is a very serious match for both sides and there is some rivalry in that in our last match we drew 2-2 in the Afcon earlier this year – a match that was voted the best of the Afcon tournament.”