Up-and-coming players looking to impress
THE desire to impress Shakes Mashaba – and probably book a place in the Bafana Bafana squad for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations – will be the driving force behind a group of many uncapped players in Mbombela this afternoon.
A second-string squad of some obscure South African players takes on an unrecognisable Ivory Coast side in the 2015 Nelson Mandela Challenge at the Mbombela Stadium today, with just about all the players keen to introduce themselves to the international senior scene in style.
Because it takes place outside the Fifa international dates, the match has seen Premiership clubs refusing to release called-up players – and forcing coach Mashaba to make changes to his original squad.
The alterations have served to somewhat reduce the match’s standing as a fullyfledged international, the fact that caps will be awarded notwithstanding.
But for the players that will mean nothing, with the likes of Polokwane City’s Puleng Tlolane eager to stake his claim for a seat on the plane that will fly out to Equatorial Guinea at the beginning of the year. Tlolane is the Absa Premiership’s leading scorer with seven goals from 12 matches, but because he plays for a lowly outfit, he is yet to become a household name.
He knows that a good performance in the national team jersey will go a long way towards changing that, with the potential of interest from the bigger league sides likely.
This week in Polokwane, the lad from Zebediela spoke of his keenness to show his good form was no fluke.
“It will be nice to play for the national team, and I hope I do as well for Bafana as I have been doing for the club,” said the striker who is dangerous to opposing defences when coming from deep.
He did not score when City held Kaizer Chiefs goalless on Tuesday, but his work ethic was hard to ignore – Tlolane harassing the Amakhosi defence with his tricky runs.
The Elephants defence can brace themselves for a similar torrid afternoon should Tlolane start as he hopes to.
There’ll be no rest for Bafana either, for while they will be without the likes of Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba and Gervinho, the west Africans won’t be short of stars.
In 18-year-old Victorien Angban, the Ivory Coast have a player said to be the next big star that will emerge not only from the former French colony, but the entire continent as well. They are already calling him the new Drogba, such is the quality of the attacking midfielder.
The fact that he is at the Chelsea Academy tells the story of the youngster’s potential, and South Africa will this afternoon get to see why even Liverpool were interested in Angban’s services.
He was a member of the Ivory Coast side that contested the Africa Youth Championships in Turkey, where France were crowned champions.
Another player Bafana will have to be wary of is Lamine Doumbia, who is based in Norway.
Knowing Mashaba, though, he is likely to want the opposition to be the ones worrying about his side.
And so when they walk on to the pitch this afternoon, expect Bafana to pay no regard to the generally held notion they are no name brands and expect them to play their hearts out in a bid to show they, too, are worthy to represent the country at the Nation’s Cup next year.