Chan call-up poser for Pirates defender
It looks like Orlando Pirates defender, Justice Chabalala will be caught between a rock and a hard place when he has to choose between accepting the Bafana Bafana call-up for the Caf Championship of Nations (Chan) and staying at his team and play in the Carling Cup.
Justice Chabalala of Orlando Pirates (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Chabalala is among the players who struggled for game time at the Buccaneers last season and will get a chance to prove himself to the coaches in the carling Cup where he has been voted into the starting team by the supporters. He is set to play alongside club captain Happy Jele and with Nyasha Munetsi having left Pirates, the position at centre back is up for grabs in the upcoming season.
But Chabalala has also been named by David Notoane for the Chan qualifiers against Lesotho on July 28, a day after the Carling Cup. Playing at the Chan is also a good chance for the defender to prove himself at a big stage.
Clubs are not forced to release players for the Chan as it is a tournament that is not of the official Caf or Fifa calendar and it remains to be seen if Chabalala will be allowed to link up with Bafana.
The qualifier is played at a critical time as clubs are on their final stages of preseason ahead of the start of the Absa Premiership the following weekend. Other players who might miss out on the chance of impressing at their clubs if they link up with Notoane’s team are Chabalala’s teammate Zakhele Lepasa and Kaizer Chiefs’ Reeve Frosler. The duo have however not been voted into the starting teams but could come on as substitutes in the game.
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