Orlando Pirates’ contingent of a record six players in the provisional Bafana Bafana squad is already ”on board” for this month’s African Nations Cup tournament in Egypt.
The selection of Benedict Vilakazi, Joseph Makhanya, Siyabonga Nomvete, Tonic Chabalala, Lebohang Mokoena and Gift Leremi has been confirmed by the club’s management on the Buccaneers’ website — despite the fact that Bafana coach Ted Dumitru has repeatedly stated he will only finalise his 23-man squad after the practice outing against a Premier Soccer League XI in Durban on Friday night.
Dumitru initially named a shortlist of 26 players from whom to make a final selection, but the number was reduced to 25 when Kaizer Chiefs’ enigmatic goalkeeper Emile Baron announced out of the blue he was retiring from international soccer.
The Bafana coach has emphasised he could still call on players outside the stipulated 25 if they produce something out of the ordinary at the 11th hour — or if there is an unlikely exodus of those on the shortlist.
Most of the players already named by Dumitru seem reasonably certain to be included in the Egypt-bound squad, but lingering doubts remain over the two or more players who will eventually drop out.
Pirates, however, do not believe their players — and supporters, for that matter — should remain in the dark. The Buccaneers’ management says official confirmation that the six players will be heading for the land of the sphinx and pyramids has already been received — despite Dumitru’s inscrutable stance on the matter.
After a brief New Year’s break from training of two days, the Bafana squad reassembled on Monday, with speculation still surrounding unpredictable Porto FC scoring ace Benni McCarthy — despite his reported arrival at the training camp.
An Agence Franse-Presse report last week quoted McCarthy as saying he would ask permission from the South African Football Association to withdraw from the African Nations Cup because his future with the Portuguese club was at a delicate stage and the absence for more than a month at this stage could seriously disrupt his career.
Dumitru has refuted the report and said McCarthy’s absence from Bafana training last week had been due to a serious personal problem regarding the health of his father and was unconnected to his commitments at Porto. — Sapa