The soccer gods in Olympus, if indeed they exist on this lofty perch, on Wednesday appeared to provide a bitterly ironical twist to the much-debated appearance of Shaun Bartlett, Bafana Bafana’s most-capped player and top scorer, in the crunch African Nations Cup qualifier against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Bartlett, who is due to play in his 75th and final international match at King’s Park, suffered a serious ankle injury in training and was rated ”an extremely doubtful starter” by Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter.
”Shaun has a history of ankle injuries,” added the Bafana coach. ”But he had reported fully fit at the start of the week and the incident during training came like a bolt out of the blue.”
Baxter said Bartlett’s condition would be monitored carefully during the next 48 hours before a final decision is taken on whether to include him in the line-up against the DRC.
”But at this moment he is limping with a badly swollen ankle,” said the Bafana coach, ”and there was no question of him participating in the second training session of the day.”
Bartlett’s presence against the DRC had already been under discussion after he confirmed his intention to retire from international soccer after the Durban game.
But Baxter said the Charlton Athletic striker was determined to help South Africa qualify for the Nations Cup tournament in Egypt early in the New Year — a draw is required against the DRC to ensure this — and the Bafana coach was adamant he had no one better for the job at hand than the player who has scored a record 29 times for his country.
Another Bafana player to miss Wednesday afternoon’s training session was quicksilver Sibusiso Zuma, but the Bafana coach said this was more ”a precaution” for a niggling, but not serious injury.
”For the rest,” said Baxter, ”everyone has now arrived at the camp and we are holding thumbs nothing else will go awry.” — Sapa