End of the road
SERERO: VITESSE ARNHEM STAR, IN A FIT OF PETULANCE, WON’T JOIN CAMP
By contrast, Khune wants to play if a face mask is made for him.
Thulani Serero has surely played his last game for Bafana Bafana after refusing to honour a callup this week for the two 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Senegal.
Bafana face the Teranga Lions in Polokwane on Friday and in Dakar on November 14 in games they have to win to make the World Cup finals in Russia next year. Serero, however, has refused to fly into the Bafana camp, because he cannot be guaranteed game-time against Senegal.
“He gave the indication to Barney (Kujane, Bafana team manager) that if he is not going to play he does not want to come to camp,” Baxter told reporters at Bafana training in Polokwane yesterday.
“This is a national team and not a club, this is not a place where we can guarantee places. If he does not feel that it’s an honour enough to be called to the national team camp, then he may as well stay where he is. Whether that’s permanent or not, I don’t know.
“We asked him to put that in writing so we know for sure, but at the moment we have not heard anything. But he has told us he is not going to join the camp.”
Serero was called up for the two qualifiers against Cape Verde in September and for the home victory over Burkina Faso in October, but he did not play, which has presumably contributed to this latest stand-off from the Vitesse Arnhem midfielder.
Serero does have a history of trouble-making in the Bafana squad – he was kicked out of Gordon Igesund’s Bafana camp ahead of a World Cup 2014 qualifier against Botswana, after allegations that he asked, ironically, to be left out of the starting line-up.
Serero’s attitude appears in distinct contrast to Bafana’s No 1 goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, who is asking for a face mask to be made for him for the game against Senegal on Saturday. Bafana were still waiting for news yesterday afternoon from a specialist of whether Khune might be able to play, after fracturing a bone in his face playing for Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.
“Itu has seen a specialist, he will see one more,” Baxter said yesterday.
“He has asked us to prepare a mask, which means he is hopeful.
“That could be enthusiasm and ambition ... the final decision will rest with the medical team.”
Elsewhere, Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Hlompho Kekana has been released from the Bafana squad, following the death of his mother-in-law in a car accident. He has been replaced in the squad by Masandawana teammate Tiyani Mabunda.