Winless in six matches, Bafana Bafana will look to the 34-year-old legs of Siyabonga Nomvethe to see them through the two World Cup qualifiers next month, with Pitso Mosimane finally relenting and including the in-form striker in his squad.
South Africa host Ethiopia on June 3 in Rustenburg and then travel to Botswana a week later for key clashes that could determine Mosimane’s future with the national side as he bids to qualify the country for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.
The Bafana coach, facing pressure as his side haven’t won since last August, will look to Nomvethe to reproduce the kind of form that has made him a hit in the Absa Premiership this season, where he’s scored an incredible 20 goals and is a favourite for several honours at the PSL awards dinner later this month.
Nomvethe last played for Bafana during World Cup 2010, when he came on as a substitute in the final group clash against France and, after initially ruling him out due to his age, Mosimane backtracked yesterday and conceded he could no longer ignore the Moroka Swallows striker’s form. “Nomvethe has been a true soldier. He’s never said no to the national team. He respects the national colours and the badge. He will fit into the way we play,” Mosimane said of the man who has 79 international caps.
“He’s got speed, agility and he’s a top scorer.”
Bafana will require Nomvethe to take his recent form – where he has netted 10 times in his last six league games for Swallows – into the World Cup qualifiers as they find themselves in a very desperate state, having not scored a single goal in their past three games and turning the heat on Mosimane’s increasingly fragile regime.
He was confident, though, that Bafana would emerge with six points from their opening two Group A fixtures.
“Six points will be important. If you check how we started our last qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations … we only got four points from the first two games, and that cost us because we fell short by one point in the end.”
Mosimane described Ethiopia as a “stubborn” side, who are likely to come to SA looking for a draw. “They have a strong, compact defence, but the experience we gained in the last year will help us. We have done our home work and we must focus on what we can do.”
The Ethiopians sailed past Somalia 5-0 in a preliminary match which qualified them for the group phase, but ranked 138th in the world, SA should have pretty little to fear about them.
Mosimane has also included Pirates striker Tokelo Rantie in his 27-man squad, which will assemble on Monday before departing for Rustenburg, where they’ll be based until the camp concludes with a friendly clash at home to Gabon on June 15.
Surprisingly, there was no space in the squad for Nomvethe’s teammate, David Mathebula. “He’s not the only player missing out … we couldn’t include everybody. Players like Kermit Erasmus (SuperSport United) and Lehlohonolo Majoro (Kaizer Chiefs) have also done well but we couldn’t take them in. People must be patient.”
As expected, Chiefs’ Reneilwe Letsholonyane made the cut in spite of sitting out all but three of the club’s second round games due to an injury sustained during the Bafana camp in January.
SQUAD
Darren Keet, Itumeleng Khune, Moeneeb Josephs, Wayne Sandilands; Siboniso Gaxa, Morgan Gould, Bongani Khumalo, Eric Mathoho, Punch Masenamela, Tsepo Masilela, Anele Ngcongca, Siyabonga Sangweni; Thanduyise Khuboni, Andile Jali, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, May Mahlangu, Oupa Manyisa, Mzikayise Mashaba, Lebohang Mokoena, Teko Modise, Steven Pienaar, Thulani Serero, Siphiwe Tshabalala; Katlego Mphela, Siyabonga Nomvethe, Tokelo Rantie, Eleazar Rodgers
Players on standby: Lehlohonolo Masalesa, Luvhengo Mungomeni, Thamsanqa Sangweni