/ 7 August 2007

Josephs gives Parreira’s mini-camp the thumbs-up

Bidvest Wits University goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs believes the two-day mini-camp for aspiring Bafana Bafana players is an excellent opportunity for those who want to represent their country at the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

”We have so many players who can play for Bafana and too little time to see who is best in the 11 positions,” said Josephs. ”This is an excellent chance for those who are club regulars to show what they’ve got in our build-up to 2010.”

The former Ajax Cape Town keeper is one of 23 players called up by coach Carlos Alberto Parreira for the mini-camp. On Monday Josephs was vocal in goal and kept a clean sheet as his team beat Mvela Golden League side Pretoria University 3-0 at Sturrock Park.

”Not only can the coach assess the players he called up, there were a few guys from Tuks who played well,” he said. ”This camp also shows the door is open to all and those who do represent Bafana regularly are not guaranteed a place.”

Josephs is one of three keepers at the camp and admitted getting into the squad to represent South Africa at the World Cup is a huge challenge.

”We have so many talented keepers in this country, Wayne [Sandilands], Itumeleng [Khune], Callie [Marlin] and Rowen [Fernandez] are all aiming to be Bafana’s number one. This is a good challenge for all of us and I believe we all will improve over the next three years and it will be difficult for the coach to make a choice when it comes to the keepers.”

The mini-camp Bafana squad take on FC AK at Sturrock Park on Tuesday afternoon for their final game of the camp. — Sapa