Bafana Bafana
Tshabalala ready to lead SA
2011-08-09 14:30
Siphiwe Tshabalala (Gallo)
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Johannesburg - Siphiwe Tshabalala is honoured to be able to captain Bafana Bafana for Wednesday night's friendly clash with Burkina Faso.
With Steven Pienaar having pulled out of the game through a groin
injury, Shabba takes the armband for this international friendly to be
played at Coca-Cola Park.
With Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Anele Ngcongca also confirmed
absentees due to injury, the Kaizer Chiefs attacker admits the match
represents a good opportunity for the less experienced players to make a
name for themselves.
Oupa Manyisa has been called up to replace Letsholonyane, with
Daylon Claasen set to step into Pienaar's shoes although it not certain
whether they will form part of coach Pitso Mosimane's starting eleven.
Tshabalala, who is looking forward to a tough encounter, said:
"It's again an honour for me to captain my country, something that I
will cherish for a long time.
"We are missing some players but I guess it's an opportunity for those in the squad to now raise their hands and run with it.
"We have a tough match ahead of us as we know that Burkina Faso
is ranked higher than us on FIFA World rankings, but I believe we are up
for the challenge.
"This is a very important clash for all of us because the bigger
picture is preparations for the Niger match next month, so we need to do
our best to make sure we are ready for that trip, so this match will
help us a great deal."