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Bafana Bafana has been rocked by yet another injury setback with news that defender Siyanda Xulu will miss the upcoming three international matches against Lesotho, Central Africa Republic and Ethiopia.
Xulu limped off injured while playing for his Russian club Rostov FC last night (Thursday, 30 May). Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund has already stated he would not replace the defender as he has enough cover in that position.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns player now joins Kagisho Dikgacoi, Siboniso Gaxa and Tsepo Masilela on the injury list – these are the players who were called up in the initial 25-man squad for this camp but have had to withdraw. Xulu was a late call-up coming in to replace Gaxa.
The Bafana Bafana mentor now has seven defenders to work with in the three matches – Thabo Nthete, Ricardo Nunes, Tebogo Langerman, Anele Ngcongca, Bevan Fransman, Eric Mathoho and Tefo Mashamaite.
“It is unfortunate but this is part of the game, we just have to soldier on. I selected a big group in anticipation of such things so we will not be replacing Xulu for I believe we can do well with the numbers we have left. Like I said before, I believe the guys that are here will do a magnificent job for the country,” said Igesund.
Good news coming from the camp is that goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has been announced as permanent captain of Bafana Bafana. The Kaizer Chiefs goal-minder and skipper has been serving as stand-in captain in the absence of Bongani Khumalo, who has not been called up since the 2013 AFCON tournament.
Khune joins the likes of former captains Neil Tovey, Lucas Radebe, Aaron Mokoena and more recently Khumalo.
“I am humbled as a person, it will improve my leadership qualities. But make no mistake this is a heavy responsibility and I will depend a lot on the other players to do well in this position. The players have responded well in the past few matches I have been captain and I hope this will continue. Also this is not all about Khune, but about the whole team, I am just a leader with the armband – we have a lot of leaders in the team,” said Khune.
Khune is also not fazed by the spate of injuries that have hit the national team – especially in defence.
“We have experienced players who are out of the squad due to injuries, but I believe the players who have been called up know what is expected of them. We need to get the results in order for us to qualify for Brazil 2014. I think all the players are ready, and you can see by their attitude at training and everyone will carry the hopes of the nation in a positive way,” added Khune.
Bafana Bafana left for Lesotho in the afternoon (14h00) and are expected to arrive in the Mountain Kingdom around 19h00.
They will have their last training session on Saturday afternoon (1 June) before tackling Dikuena on Sunday (2 June) at 15h00 at the Setsoto Stadium.
