I need name tags for some guys, jokes Igesund
Mazola Molefe BAFANA Bafana coach Gordon Igesund joked ahead of the team’s departure to Zambia yesterday that he might have to put name tags on some of the players he’s selected for the Cosafa Cup to remember them.
Igesund has had to change his squad three times, with 14 players withdrawing because of club commitments.
This, the coach admitted, summed up the national team’s preparation for the tournament and their opening match against Namibia on Saturday in Lusaka.
Although Bafana had a bye to the quarterfinals of the competition because of their seeding in the Cosafa region, the coach said he was struggling to get his head around planning for the tournament, with a majority of players he has never worked with.
The Cosafa Cup is not on the Fifa calendar, so clubs aren’t obliged to release their players.
Only senior players Wayne Sandilands, who will captain the team in Itumeleng Khune’s absence, Lerato Chabangu and Katlego Mashego are considered sufficiently experienced.
“It’s been a difficult couple of weeks and we only finalised the squad on Tuesday, ” said Igesund. “The tournament is five days old, with some teams having had six weeks to plan for the Cosafa Cup.
“We might have to squeeze in a few more practice sessions than we had initially planned.”
Igesund said he did not pick players at random as withdrawals came in thick and fast since his first announcement, arguing that he, along with his technical team, had “a pool of about 60 players” on the Bafana radar.
“These aren’t second-rate players. I have confidence in them and believe they will do well. For me, seeing five or six players hold up their hands for future tournaments will be my definition of success, ” said Igesund.
“We will have to work on tactics a lot because the national team has a certain way of playing and these players have never played together.
“It [the national team] is not going to work like a machine, so people should expect mistakes.”