PLAYMAKERS IN RACE TO CLAIM SPOTS FOR LIBYA SHOWDOWN
Star midfielders Keagan Dolly, left, and Bongani Zungu attempted to prove their fitness for Bafana Bafana at the weekend
Star midfielders Keagan Dolly and Bongani Zungu took another step towards proving their fitness for Bafana Bafana when they turned out for the reserve sides of their respective French Ligue 1 sides at the weekend.
Eyebrows were raised when the pair were included in Stuart Baxter’s Bafana Bafana squad‚ subject to medical assessments‚ for the crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya on Sunday.
Bafana Bafana must avoid defeat in Sfax to qualify for the finals later in the year.
Zungu has not kicked a ball in Ligue 1 for Amiens since September 2 when he suffered a serious knee injury‚ while Dolly has played only 15 minutes of competitive football in the last six months after fracturing his leg while playing for Montpellier.
But both have been steadily working their way back to full match fitness and will at least report for duty in Tunisia with some game time under their belt.
Dolly played the full game for Montpellier II on Saturday in the reserve league‚ adding to two other appearances in previous weeks‚ showing no adverse reaction to his injury.
Zungu played 83 minutes for Amiens II at the weekend‚ also a third appearance for the reserve side in recent weeks.
Meanwhile‚ Lebo Mothiba netted a fine goal for Strasbourg‚ his 10th of the season‚ to break his recent drought.
Kamohelo Mokotjo played for Brentford as they lost 1-0 at West Brom in the English Championship‚ while Thulani Serero was back in the Vitesse starting lineup in the Dutch top-flight as they went down 3-2 to Heracles.
Percy Tau will have been inactive for three weeks by the time the Libya clash comes along as he waits for the post-season playoffs to start in Belgium.