South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane will only have two full days to train with his squad ahead of the January 5 international friendly match against next year’s Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts, Equatorial Guinea.
Owing to the Christmas and New Year Holidays, Mosimane’s charges are only expected to report for camp on January 2 – just three days before their showdown against Equatorial Guinea.
“Players will go into camp in Johannesburg on the 2nd of January,” Safa Communications and Media officer Matlhomola Morake told KickOff.com.
While for that match Mosimane will have to do without three of his Belgian-based players as well as striker Bradley Grobler who plays in Turkey, Safa are hopeful that May Mahlangu will be given the greenlight to honour his first national team call-up.
Mosimane is eager to assess Mahlangu – a Swedish-based attack-minded midfielder – as he searches for fresh alternatives to put an end to Bafana’s inability to score regularly on the international stage.
“Just like all the foreign-based players that have been called up, we have also informed Mahlangu’s club in Sweden that he is part of the national team that will play against Equatorial Guinea and two other teams in international friendlies next month,” said Bafana team manager Barney Kujane to KickOff.com.
“We are hopeful of a positive response from his club and we are waiting for them to get back to us. We also hope that the other foreign-based players will also take part in these friendly matches,” he added.
After their date with Equatorial Guinea, Bafana will face 1994 Africa Cup of Nations finalists Zambia on January 11 before engaging the Black Stars of Ghana four days later.
Mosimane says he will use the matches to explore various combinations which he might employ during the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers.