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United defender Bevan Fransman has withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana squad that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.
