OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 4.00pm.
PHIL ‘Chippa’ Masinga is one of three leading Bafana Bafana players who have been forced by injury to withhold their talents from the President Mbeki Inauguration friendly match against Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
Team doctor Victor Ramathesela announced on Monday that Masinga, defender Pierre Issa and keeper Brian Baloyi will be absent from the team that trots onto the FNB Stadium turf on Wednesday at 3pm.
Blocker Baloyi missed training on Monday, with his lunging and diving capabilities compromised by a strained calf muscle. Ramathesela is hoping Baloyi’s veal will no longer be tender when the team’s Luanda fixture comes up.
Masinga’s game has been knocked by a bum knee that swelled yet again after the team’s recent Mauritius game, which they run 2-0.
Issa has been booked off by doctors from his club, Olympique Marseille, as he is suffering a viral infection “similar to hepatitis”.
Amongst the team’s more stalwart defenders, only Daniel Mudau is in training for the Wednesday game — the team still awaits the arrival of Shaun Bartlett and captain Lucas Radebe. Both are flying in from the antipodes on Tueday and will be dogged by jet lag on Wednesday.
Benny McCarthy only arrives on the day, back from Lome in Togo.
Coach Trott Moloto however, feels three strikers will be sufficient for the Zimbabwe and Angola games, during which he may choose, he says, to field only one of them.