Calm after storm for Bafana
2005-12-28 20:20
Johannesburg - It was quite literally the calm after a succession of electric storms in Johannesburg on Wednesday for Bafana Bafana as coach Ted Dumitru prepared his squad for a revealing practice encounter against a PSL XI on Thursday afternoon.
The elongated encounter at Johannesburg Stadium, which might well last more than the scheduled 90 minutes stipulated by Fifa for official matches, is designed to give all the players on hand an opportunity to demonstrate their wares before the finalised squad of 23 for the African Nations Cup is named on January 9 or 10.
And after controversies surrounding Pierre Issa, Benni McCarthy, Emile Baron and Vuyo Mere flashed through the Bafana camp like bolts of lightning during the past week, the final training session before Thursday's kick-off behind closed doors was relatively absent of trauma and drama.
Perhaps no player will be scrutinised as closely in the practice game as the recalled Issa after the revelations he has not played in any official soccer games during the last few months because of a contractual dispute between Greek clubs OFI and Ionikos.
But Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Baron is still in self-proclaimed exile after his shock revelation on Tuesday that he had retired from international soccer.
Father has undergone surgery
McCarthy, according to official Bafana reports, is still in Cape Town as a result of the surgery undergone by his father.
But Dumitru remains adamant that reports quoting the enigmatic Porto striker as saying he wanted to be excused from the forthcoming African tournament in Egypt, were no more than "malicious gossip."
Meanwhile, the court case in which Mamelodi Sundowns' Vuyo Mere faces five charges has been postponed to February 14 - ostensibly, as in the case of the charged Benedict Vilakazi, to give him the chance of playing in the Nations Cup.
There was also relative calm in the PSL players' camp after the failure of seven players who had been shorne from Dumitru's Bafana squad of 35 failed to turn up to play against their erstwhile South African comrades.
PSL general manager Dan Leboa said notification had been sent to all the players clubs - "and more than that we cannot do."
Leboa also reiterated that spectators would not be admitted to Johannesburg Stadium on Thursday afternoon - unlike the second practice game against the PSL XI in Durban next week.
- SAPA