South Africa and Turkey begin the last leg of their World Cup warm-up campaign in the four nation Reunification Cup starting here Monday with Scotland and a Hong Kong XI making up the numbers.
Half the battle will be won if they can beat Hong Kong’s humidity as the coaches bolt their final nuts into place before the footballing extravaganza kicks off on May 31.
South African coach Jomo Sono hasn’t named his starting 11 but Leeds United’s hugely experienced defender Lucas Radebe is in his World Cup squad and is expected to be put through his paces at the
Hong Kong Stadium after struggling with injury for the past 15 months.
Radebe came through a friendly victory over Madagascar in Durban last weekend unscathed but played only the second half. His form and fitness were not seriously tested.
The 33-year-old, who succeeded Neil Tovey as captain in 1997, was a permanent fixture until sidelined by a series of injuries. Besides his ability on the field, his big match experience should also benefit younger players such as Aaron Mokoena, Matthew Booth and Siyabonga Nomvete.
Quinton Fortune of Manchester United, effectively Ryan Giggs’ understudy, and Benni McCarthy of Celta Vigo should also feature with McCarthy expected to bear the brunt of the attacking burden.
South Africa has had a patchy lead-up to the World Cup having lost to Saudi Arabia and Georgia, played out disappointing goalless draws against Botswana and Ecuador and scraped past Madagascar 1-0.
Turkey are going to their first World Cup finals in 48 years and are at the Reunification Cup, held to celebrate the anniversary of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, for the first time, but will be without skipper Ogun Temizkanoglu who was dumped by coach Senol Gunes.
The 32-year-old Fenerbahce defender, who has won more than 70 caps for Turkey, was left out of Gunes’ 28-man preliminary World Cup squad after falling out with the coach when he was substituted in the Turks’ 2-0 friendly win over Chile last month.
Another defender Ismail Gulduren is also out due to a knee injury.
The main question mark hanging over Turkey’s ability to threaten is their lack of depth.
Midfield playmaker Sergen Yalcin is sidelined with a serious knee injury and Gunes will draw heavily from Galatasaray, with the exciting Ergun Penbe tipped for a central role and club-mate Hakan Unsal lining up to the left.
Abdullah Ercan from Fenerbahce is favoured for the wide role on the left with Emre Belozoglu of Inter Milan expected to take up a position on the opposite flank.
Scotland coach Berti Vogts will use the tournament to continue his rebuilding process and he has his work cut out after their recent 5-0 drubbing by France and a 4-1 loss to South Korea last week.
The German has his eye on Euro qualifying matches (ahead of Portugal 2004) and has said the Reunification Cup is an important part of his build-up, giving him the chance to spend time with his
players.
Injuries have deprived him of Dominic Matteo, Paul Lambert and Stephen Crainey and the squad he has brought has just 149 caps between them and scored just six goals in internationals.
The Hong Kong XI recently defeated World Cup qualifiers China and narrowly lost 1-0 to Honduras. – Sapa-AFP