Most Premier Soccer League clubs are reluctant to release players from pre-season preparations to play for what has curiously been termed a Bafana Bafana development squad in the current down-graded Cosafa Cup centralised tournament in Mpumalanga.
Still, Moroka Swallows have come to the rescue by making Lefa Tsutsulupa, Ramahiwe Mphahlele and Thulani Ngcephe available.
The South African development team have been granted a place in Saturday’s quarterfinals where they will meet the winners of a group consisting of Comores, Lesotho, Malawi and Namibia.
Apart from the Swallows trio, the 20-man squad also have three players from relegated Jomo Cosmos in Thapelo Tshilo, Bamuza Sono and Lethola Mofokeng.
And while team coach Serame Letsoaka says the purpose of fielding a development squad is to discover Bafana stars of the future, he has misgivings over the fact that the players under his charge will only assemble on Thursday for what is the defence of a title won by a more representative South Africa team last year.
Also, in view of the intention of using the tournament as a breeding ground for future Bafana luminaries, it is regrettable that national head coach Joel Santana will not be present.
The coach, instead, is holidaying in Brazil. — Sapa