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Cape Town - Bafana Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane, has made an impassioned plea to the Premier Soccer League to help him get Bafana battle hardened for their crunch 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier against African champions Egypt at home next March.
Speaking after Bafana were beaten 1-0 by the United States in the annual Nelson Mandela Challenge played in front of a capacity 50 000 crowd at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday night, Mosimane said he wanted to play in a tournament in the Middle East (Kuwait) in December, which would mean moving the final league matches for the year (on December 22) but he has not had a response.
"I would have been able to use some of my fringe players in the PSL, such as striker Kermit Erasmus of SuperSport United, but because this tournament is not played on an official FIFA date, it is up to the league to postpone matches or not.
"That tournament would have given me a chance to look at more players ahead of our clash against Egypt."
Mosimane also wants the PSL to come to the party in March before Bafana host the Pharaohs in what could decide Group G.
Bafana, after two matches, head the group with four points. Egypt have only one point and have to win in order to qualify and defend their Afcon title in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon where the finals will be jointly staged in January 2012.
"It would mean moving and rescheduling one round of fixtures in March for me to have the squad for seven days ahead of the Egypt clash.
"It could make a world of difference and I hope to get a sympathetic hearing from the PSL, but so far there has been little encouragement for my plans. But I will keep trying."
Mosimane said he plans to play a top ranked country in February to warm up for Egypt.
"I wanted to play one of the other big North African sides, but they are all booked on the FIFA date for friendly matches in February.
"So I will get a country as highly ranked as possible to be ready for what will be a big showdown against Egypt. If we beat Egypt we could have one foot in the door for the Afcon finals."
Only the group winners qualify automatically for the finals while some top placed runners up will squeeze through the back door.
Should Egypt lose to Bafana in March they will face elimination. That is why Mosimane is determined to get his players in the best shape possible.
The PSL helped previous Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira prepare for the 2010 World Cup, but this season the PSL appear to be on a stop-start season with only eight rounds completed after kicking off in August.
