Samba time for Bafana

The game is set for March 5 and, for Brazil, it will serve as preparation for next year’s World Cup at home. For Bafana, the match scheduled to take place at FNB Stadium should serve as coach Gordon Igesund’s preparatory match for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which start that month.

This game has spread like wildfire on Brazil’s social media platforms, while Safa are yet to officially announce it. Safa spokesman Domonic Chimhavi, however, confirmed that “it is on”.

“The Bafana coach is working hard to get the team to be one of the best in the world and playing countries like Brazil will help his aims in that regard,” he said.

Bafana played Brazil last September in Igesund’s maiden game as a national team coach and lost 1-0 in Sao Paulo. The 2014 World Cup hosts have spent the last few years travelling the globe playing friendlies in preparation for the spectacle. The Bafana game forms part of the last leg of the tour.

The five-time world champions have played Bafana three times on South African soil, and they also played in the 2009 Confederations Cup and the World Cup the following year. Chimhavi also confirmed that the Mabhuti Khenyza case will be heard on the week of November 25.

Khenyeza was banned from football for a year after the PSL found him guilty of spitting at an assistant referee while playing for Ajax Cape Town last season.

The Mpumalanga Black Aces striker appealed the decision through Safa’s appeals board, which overturned the PSL sentence to a R50 000 fine, of which R25 000 was suspended. The PSL has since appealed Safa’s decision and it is set for next month.

Khenyeza continues to play for Aces as the league rules do not prohibit him from playing.