Cape Town - There’s good news and bad news for Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund as he prepares his squad to take on Malawi in a friendly in Durban on Saturday.
The bad news first. Kaizer Chiefs striker Bernard Parker was badly injured in his team’s 1-1 draw with the University of Pretoria at the weekend, and initial indications are that he could be in doubt for the African Nations Cup, set to be held in South Africa from January 19 to February 10.
“Bernard’s (injury) is quite a nasty one. He twisted his ankle as he got kicked, and I think it’s maybe ligament damage,” Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter said after the game.
Parker is in the squad to play Malawi, but Igesund is still awaiting medical opinion before deciding on his next step.
The good news. Mamelodi Sundowns striker Katlego Mphela is back from injury and firing in the goals. The prolific marksman has played in the Pretoria club’s last two fixtures and scored in both.
His timely return is major boost for Igesund ahead of the Nations Cup.
Igesund is set to announce his squad for the tournament on December 30 - and he has already said the final 23 names will come from the 36 names he has announced.
A 24-man squad will do duty against Malawi and a further 12 names will join for a mini training camp in Johannesburg on December 27.
“I have been using the past five matches to look at various players and this one against Malawi is no different,” said Igesund. “The only difference is this is the last chance for me and my technical team to have a final look at what we have at our disposal. Time for observing and assessing the players are almost over, and I believe this match will give us an indication of where we are and where we are going.
“I haven’t really had the opportunity to have proper training sessions with the players, so the mini-camp from 27-30 December will give me an idea if players can perform a certain role in the team. It’s a tough challenge, which I’m going to enjoy. It’s in the camp where we’ll see who can do what and who can’t.
“The expectations are high, the mandate is high and it’s all in a short space of time, but if I didn’t believe I could do it, then I wouldn’t have taken the job.”
Igesund’s mandate is to take Bafana to, at least, the semi-finals of the Nations Cup.
After the match against Malawi, Bafana will have two more warm-up friendlies - against Norway in Cape Town (January 8) and Algeria (Orlando, January 12).
They then play in the opening match of the Nations Cup, when they take on Cape Verde at the FNB Stadium. The other two countries in Bafana’s Group A are Morocco and Angola.
Cape Argus