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Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates football club coach Roger de Sa hopes to withdraw his players called up to play for Bafana Bafana against Nigeria on August 14.
While the game is an international friendly, it falls three days before Pirates face Zamalek in a CAF Champions league group A match at Orlando Stadium, and the six players in the national team will not have enough rest before the crucial fixture.
"It’s a friendly versus a Champions League game for a South African team that has reached the group stages for the first time in years," De Sa said on Wednesday.
"I think common sense will win here and both parties will sit and discuss at the end and the outcome will come out."
The six Pirates players called up for national duty are Andile Jali, Daine Klate, Senzo Meywia, Thabo Matlaba, Oupa Manyisa and Thandani Ntshumayelo.
De Sa said he had asked the club to notify the SA Football Association (Safa) of his intentions.
"I’ve already spoken to the club about it, and the club has already taken action by notifying Safa and the league, and I’m sure in the next couple of days we will hear a response from both bodies how it will be handled."
De Sa conceded that Bafana coach Gordon Igesund had the right to call up any player for the friendly.
"I’m sure the right decision will be made. Obviously, as a coach I would like my players not to play on Wednesday before we play Zamalek on Saturday. I mean that’s an obvious question.
"But, there are rules, and those are Fifa rules and we [have] got to respect those rules, but I think there is common sense that will come to play."
