BAFANA Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane has announced a 28-man squad to face Cote D’Ivoire and Zimbabwe. South Africa will take on the West Africans in the Nelson Mandela Challenge – which is the 17th edition of the annual fixture. That match will take place at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Three days later (Tuesday, November 15) Bafana will face neighbours Zimbabwe in an international friendly match. It will be played at the Rufaro Stadium in the capital Harare. Kickoff is at 7pm.
The squad is made up of 19 local-based players, with the other nine based overseas.
Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has been left out due to injury.
Captain Steven Pienaar, goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs and Kagisho Dikgacoi return after a long lay-off from injury, while Tsepo Masilela, Teko Modise also return after missing the last Bafana Bafana match against Sierra Leone due to injury.
Four new players have been called up – Musa Bilankulu of Lamontville Golden Arrows; Granwald Scott of Ajax Cape Town; George Lebese of Kaizer Chiefs and Siyabonga Nontshinga of Jomo Cosmos.
“We have two matches that we will be playing; hence we have called up 28 players so we don’t overburden some players. This is an excellent opportunity to look at other players and not have just one group. We have some exciting youngsters that have been doing well in the league and we would like to have a closer look at them, get them to understand our philosophy,” said Mosimane
The 17th edition of the Nelson Mandela Challenge is held in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and this is the second time that it will be played in the Province. The last time was in 2005 against Senegal.
This is also the first time that Cote D’Ivoire has been invited to this event. They are ranked 19th in the world and Number 1 on the continent, while South Africa is 49th and eighth respectively.
South Africa goes into the clash against Cote D’Ivoire with an impressive record of not losing to the number one-ranked team on the continent in four clashes.
In their first clash in 1994, the two teams played to a goalless draw at the Boet Erasmus Stadium in Port Elizabeth in the Four Nations Cup. Four years later, in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, it ended one all in the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
In 2002, the Elephants were again held to a goalless draw in Abidjan. South Africa’s win came in 2003 in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier for the 2004 edition in Tunisia. Bafana Bafana won two one (2-1) at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, goals coming from strikers Shaun Bartlett and Siyabonga Nomvete. The team was coached by Shakes Mashaba.
Cote D’Ivoire has named a star-studded 21-man strong squad. Among others are captain Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Yaya and Kolo Toure, Gervinho, Emmanuel Eboue and Siaka Tiene. They are expected in South Africa on Thursday, 10 November 2011.
“For the integrity of the tournament we always try to get the best teams in honour of Nelson Mandela, hence the number one team on the continent, Cote D’Ivoire, who will give the tournament the high-profile stature that it deserves. The clash against the Elephants is also aligned to our preparations for 2013 AFCON because the vision is now different – as we are hosting, so ideally we would like to play the top-ranked eight nations on the continent to give ourselves good preparation. We have great belief that with the strong line-up coming this way, Cote D’Ivoire will pose a very strong challenge and that is what we need. We are also hoping that Zimbabwe, with the many players based in South Africa, will help us on our way to 2013,” added Mosimane.
Match tickets are on sale at Computicket outlets, Shoprite and Shoprite/Checkers stores countrywide at a cost of R100, 00 for the West Lower stand and R50, 00 for all other areas.
Tickets will not be on sale at the stadium on match day.
South Africa will then travel to Harare to face Zimbabwe in a friendly international match. The two countries last met in 2010 in Durban, with the home side emerging three nil victors.
Bafana Bafana will assemble for camp on Monday, 7 November 2011 and will fly to Port Elizabeth on the same day.
