AJAX’S YOUNG GUNS LEAVE DE SA WITH SELECTION HEADACHE
ROGER de Sa has admitted to a few sleepless nights as he plans his Ajax Cape Town team for the Nedbank Cup semifinal against SuperSport United tomorrow at 8.15pm.
But the worry for the coach is who to leave out rather than trying to find the right quality to match an attacking Matsatsantsa side who have already collected the Telkom Knockout trophy this season.
De Sa fielded a changed team in Tuesday ’ s 1-0 loss to Free State Stars in the league, but says he saw enough in that game to make him ponder his best 11 for the match.
“It ’ s not easy, to be honest. Many of them put their hands up and contributed to the team, guys like Dominic Isaacs and Lance Davids who have not played a lot this season,” De Sa said. “I will just have to choose the 11 and go with it. You do look at things like previous form and what they have done against this opposition in the past.
“As a coach you just hope you make the right call, though even if the call is right people will perceive it as wrong if the team loses.”
One big boost for De Sa is the return to fitness of key defender Abbubaker Mobara, who missed the Stars game with a knee ligament injury but is fit to play. The 20-yearold will resume his partnership with teenager Rivaldo Coetzee and De Sa says the youthful age of his squad could be a big bonus.
“These young boys have won numerous youth tournaments already, they have the taste for blood,” De Sa said.
“And they have matured so quickly. I sat here a year ago with a young boy like Rivaldo Coetzee who was 17 and new to the PSL. Now 12 months later he has six Bafana Bafana caps or whatever and on the brink of a major cup final, with the team hopefully going to finish in the top eight.”