OWN CORRESPONDENT, Valletta | Saturday 6.00pm.
BAFANA coach Trott Moloto will not take long to choose his team for a friendly against Malta on Sunday at Ta’Qali Stadium on the tiny Mediterranean island.
The man who took charge of Bafana Bafana 18 months ago and has survived several media moves to oust him arrived on Friday with just 13 players, including two goalkeepers.
Domestic and European club commitments and injuries ruled out stars like captain Lucas Radebe from English Premiership team Leeds United and striker Shaun Bartlett from Swiss side FC Zurich.
Moloto named 15 players last weekend only to discover that defender Pierre Issa from French outfit Marseille and striker George Koumantarakis from Swiss team Basle were also unavailable.
The severely depleted squad is potentially embarrassing for South Africa, who have come to Malta with much more in mind than a victory over one of the minnows of European football.
Maltese Football Association president Joseph Mifsud is on the executive committee of world governing body Fifa and his vote next month will count toward determining who hosts the 2006 World Cup.
South Africa, Brazil, England, Germany and Morocco are locked in a tight struggle to stage the quadrennial showcase of international football and England are also coming to Malta for a friendly.
Despite their depleted team, which midfielder Thabo Mngomeni from Orlando Pirates will captain, South Africa must be confident of defeating a national team in Europe for the first time.
South Africa are 98 places above Malta on the Fifa rankings and their last visit to the continent brought an honourable 1-1 draw in Copenhagen against Denmark.
Bafana Bafana have lost to France (twice), Germany and England and drawn with Denmark (twice) and Iceland in other World Cup and friendly games across Europe.
Malta have experienced the rare pleasure of victory twice in their last 10 matches – defeating Qatar 2-0 in January and Azerbaijan 3-0 in February – but crashed 3-0 to Northern Ireland two months ago in the last home match.
Yugoslav coach Josif Ilic has included two Nigeria-born players, defender Digger Okonkwo and striker Chucks Nwoko, in the Maltese squad as they are naturalised citizens. — AFP