Supersport United defender Bevan Fransman has withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana squad that is doing duty at the COSAFA Cup in Zambia due to personal problems.
Fransman was initially left out of the travelling party to play for his club in a pre-season friendly match against Manchester City on Sunday, 14 July 2013 which they (Supersport United) won 2-nil. The defender was expected to fly to Zambia today (Monday, 15 July).
Due to the COSAFA Cup tournament rules, there can be no replacement, which means Bafana Bafana head coach Gordon Igesund will have to make do with the 19 players already in Zambia.
South Africa will play the host country in the semi-final which will take place at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Wednesday, 17 July 2013.
Kickoff is at 20h00.
"This is the final before the final, Zambia is a very formidable side and could be dangerous at times. They have the crowd behind them which should make for a highly-contested match. We have worked hard in preparation for this match, so we will play as a team this time around. I haven't finalised my starting eleven as yet for Wednesday, but I think I will have about eight players who are under 23 years of age and this should be an interesting game. This is an exciting team and I believe they will hold their own against the home side," said Igesund.
His words were echoed by his captain Wayne Sandilands.
"It is going to be another tough match, more so we are facing the home side. From what we have seen here in their last match, Zambia has very good players and will be boosted by their fans which will make things tough for us. But we also have a very good team ourselves and we are definitely going to give it our all. From what I saw on Saturday, we have a very good bunch of committed players who showed a lot of passion and wanted a win at all costs," said Sandilands.
"We also appreciate the support that we have been getting from back home and, like I said before we left, we will do our best to make our country proud."
Bafana Bafana qualified for the last four after defeating Namibia in the quarterfinals on Saturday, 13 July at the Nkoloma Stadium in the capital Lusaka.
"The boys played very well under the circumstances, we knew that it was going to be tough and that is exactly what we came up against. Namibia really gave us a run for our money but the win has injected an extra amount of boost in the confidence and the morale is higher than ever. Gratitude must go to the coach and the technical team as well as the support staff for making our job easier. Now we are looking forward to the clash against Chipolopolo with greater motivation and belief in ourselves," added Sandilands.
Lerato Chabangu and Edward Manqele did not train on Monday due to some discomfort on their ankles. They are being monitored by the medical team.
Bafana Bafana will have their last training session on Tuesday evening (16 July) at the match venue ahead of Wednesday's clash.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.