Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Belgium-based Ayanda Patosi has been withdrawn from Bafana Bafana's training camp due to injury, coach Gordon Igesund said on Friday.
"It is such a pity that he will not be with us due to injury but he is a young man and should be fine," Igesund said in a statement.
"I would have loved to work with him but his injury prevented us from doing so. He is a player for the future, hopefully someday he will return to the national team fold."
Patosi sustained the ankle injury in his club's last league match before heading to South Africa. He was expected to be out of action for three to four weeks.
"I am so disappointed that I will not be part of the Afcon tournament, I had such high hopes of playing for my country," Patosi said.
"But being called up for this training camp is in itself a great motivation and will make sure I work harder to return to the national team fold. I really enjoyed my time here, with a great bunch of talented players, unfortunately the injury cut short my stay.
Patosi was the third player to be withdrawn from the squad after striker Benni McCarthy and defender Eric Mathoho were also suffering from injuries.
Meanwhile, training got into top gear at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, with all the other players taking part, including Belgium-based Anele Ngcongca and Siyanda Xulu who arrived on Thursday night.
Andile Jali, who also missed Thursday's training session, managed to complete the gruelling morning session on Friday without a problem.
The mini training camp ends on Saturday before Igesund announces the 23-man Africa Cup of Nations 2013 squad on Sunday.
