Bafana Bafana has two games left in their bid to qualify for Afcon Cameroon 2022.
Head coach Molefi Ntseki has announced his 26-man squad on March 4 to play in these two qualifiers against Ghana at home and Sudan away.
Bafana Bafana will face the Black Stars of Ghana on March 25 at FNB Stadium in the penultimate qualifier before travelling to Khartoum for the final encounter against Sudan.
Bafana Bafana is in Group C with Ghana, Sao Tome and Principe and Sudan. The Black Stars lead the group with nine points, the same number of points as Bafana Bafana, but the West Africans are head-to-head after beating South Africa 2-0 in the away encounter.
Sudan lies third with six points while Sao Tome is still to register a point. All teams have two matches to play before completing their programme and two teams from each group will proceed to the Afcon finals pencilled for Cameroon early next year.
Ntseki has called up a squad that he said had one mandate, which is to take South Africa to Cameroon next year.
“We are looking for results in these two matches. It is as simple as that. We need to qualify for Cameroon and everyone is aware of that mandate,’’ said Ntseki.
Ntseki has kept faith with his seasoned goalkeepers Ronwen Williams and Itumeleng Khune and has added Amazulu rising star Veli Mothwa.
Thibang Phete of OS Belenenses SAD in Portugal returns to the Bafana Bafana squad, so are seasoned campaigners Siyanda Xulu of Haope Tel Aviv in Israel and Craig Martin of Cape Town City.
Captain Thulani Hlatshwayo, Mosa Lebusa, Innocent Maela, Sfiso Hlanti and Thapelo Morena complete the defensive line-up.
Mamelodi Sundowns’ Rivaldo Coetzee also makes a welcome return to the national set up in the midfield mainly made up of the tried and tested.
Themba Zwane, Thulani Serero, Ben Motshwari, Bongani Zungu, Keagan Dolly, Percy Tau, Sipho Mbule, Andile Jali, Luther Singh and Dean Furman comprise a solid midfield setup. The striking quartet of Kermit Erasmus, Bradley Grobler, Ruzaigh Gamildien and Vitoria Guimaraes of Portugal’s Lyle Foster complete coach Ntseki’s 26-man squad.
Men’s national team announced
On March 3 at Safa House, the u-17 men’s national team (Amajimbos) was announced by head coach Vela Khumalo.
The final 21-man squad will play in the Total 2021 u-17 Afcon tournament scheduled for Morocco. Amajimbos have been drawn into Group C of the tournament with West African opponents Cameroon, Senegal and Mali. They will play their group matches in Casablanca, Morocco’s economic capital and the country’s biggest metro.
The team left for Morocco on March 4 to continue with their preparations ahead of their opening match on March 15 against Mali.
They will then face current Afcon champions Cameroon on March 18 and Senegal on March 21.
Khumalo said these were exciting times for him and his team and oozed confidence that the team will make the country proud.
“We are looking forward to a tough but exciting tournament. We are ready to put up a great show and advertise the South African style of play. In past South Africa has done very well in the u-17 tournament and we intend to continue doing so.
“It is unfortunate that there will be no u-17 Fifa World Cup this year as qualification for that tournament was our ultimate goal. However, we will go to Morocco and bring back the much-needed international experience for these players as they are the stars of tomorrow,” said Khumalo.
