Star’s Bafana Mayday call joy
MAY Mahlangu has described his first ever Bafana Bafana call-up as an honour, as the much-hyped Sweden-based midfielder looks set to make his international debut in tomorrow’s friendly against Equatorial Guinea.
Speaking after landing in the west African nation which will co-host this month’s African Nations Cup alongside Gabon, Mahlangu expressed his delight at finally getting the nod from Pitso Mosimane after a hugely successful season at Swedish side Helsingborg.
“It’s an honour for me to be called up to the squad. I have been keeping hope alive that someday my efforts would be rewarded. I never gave up because I knew the coach could only select a certain number of players to represent their country. Now that my time has come, I can only do my best. It is a good feeling to be a part of this team,” Mahlangu said from Bata, where the team are based ahead of tomorrow night’s clash (Estadio de Bata, 8.30pm SA time, live on SABC1, according to their latest TV schedule).
The Mpumalanga-born player, who did not ply his trade in the domestic league before his transfer overseas, dispelled the notion that he ever thought of representing Sweden rather than the country of his birth.
“I have been doing very well for my club, and I guess that is the reason why I have been given this opportunity to play for my country. I had a chance to represent Sweden but I was almost certain that my turn (for Bafana) would come, rather than change my allegiance. Now I am looking forward to getting on to the field.”
Mahlangu has been showered with a host of Swedish League awards for his performance in the past year, including Player-of-the-season.
He is expected to be one of several new caps in Mosimane’s team, who will bid to win their first match in five games after a horrible conclusion to the previous year, where they could not secure qualification for the Nations Cup finals.
Mosimane has taken along a largely depleted squad to west Africa after several teams refused to release their players, and a chaotic trip turned for the worse when Bafana landed in Bata to find their hotel rooms were not ready.
Checking into their hotel late at night forced Mosimane to cancel a training session planned for Tuesday and the squad practiced yesterday.
Meanwhile, Santos defender Wayne Arendse was expected to join Bafana today after he had been left behind as his passport had expired.
After tomorrow’s clash, Bafana still have two more games next week, against Zambia on Wednesday and Ghana next Sunday, although both have since been downgraded to practice matches due to player unavailability.