Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki has called up five more players to the national set-up to beef up the squad ahead of crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan this week.
The South African national team are set to play the Black Stars of Ghana at the FNB Stadium on Thursday, 25 March before taking on Sudan in their final qualifier in Khartoum on Sunday, 28 March.
Ntseki has assembled his squad for camp in Sandton ahead of their back-to-back Afcon qualifiers, but certain players have had issues travelling to South Africa due to Covid-19 restrictions.
As a result, Ntseki has decided to add five more players to the squad as strikers Lebohang Maboe and Thabiso Kutumela were called up as replacements for the injured Kermit Erasmus and Bradley Grobler while Thabo Nodada, Mothobi Mvala and Vincent Pule have also been added to the squad.
Bafana team doctor Dr Thulani Ngwenya said while there were some issues regarding certain overseas-based players, they were busy negotiating with respective teams to make sure that all called-up players were available for the upcoming games.
On the bright side, Bafana Bafana were boosted by the early arrival of star striker Percy Tau. He jetted into the country on Monday morning and joined his teammates for some video analysis sessions.
Bafana will train on Monday afternoon at Discovery Park in Sandton and Tuesday at the FNB Stadium at 6pm. They will round off their preparations on Wednesday with another training session at the match venue at 4pm while the visitors (Ghana) will train at 6pm.
Soon after the match against Ghana, South Africa will leave the country for Sudan via Ethiopia and return home soon on Sunday.
Bafana Bafana squad for Afcon qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan:
GOALKEEPERS:
Veli Mothwa (Amazulu FC)
Ronwen Williams (Supersport Utd)
Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs)
DEFENDERS:
Thibang Phete (OS Belenenses SAD, Portugal)
Siyanda Xulu (Haopel Tel Aviv, Israel)
Thulani Hlatshwayo (Orlando Pirates)
Musa Lebusa (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Innocent Maela (Orlando Pirates)
Sfiso Hlanti (Swallows)
Thapelo Morena (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Craig Martin (Cape Town City)
MIDFIELDERS:
Rivaldo Coetzee (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Thulani Serero (Al Jazira FC, Abu Dhabi)
Ben Motshwari (Orlando Pirates)
Bongani Zungu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Keagan Dolly (Montpellier FC, France)
Percy Tau (Brighton and Hove Albion, England)
Sipho Mbule (Supersport United)
Andile Jali (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Luther Singh (Braga FC, Portugal)
Dean Furman (Carlisle United, England)
Vincent Pule (Orlando Pirates)
Thabo Nodada (Cape Town City)
Mothobi Mvala (Mamelodi Sundowns)
STRIKERS:
Lebo Maboe (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Thabiso Kutumela (Maritzburg United)
Ruzaigh Gamildien (Swallows)
Lyle Foster (Vitoria Guimaraes, Portugal)
COACH:
Molefi Ntseki
