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Cape Town - Maritzburg United defender Siyanda Xulu will captain Bafana Bafana in the 2018 COSAFA Cup tournament, which kicked off on Sunday.
South Africa are set to get their campaign underway this coming weekend on Sunday, May 3 after receiving a bye in the first round of the competition as one of the seeded teams.
Bafana Bafana will start the tournament in the quarter-final stage when they face the winners of Group A, which includes Madagascar, Mozambique, Comoros and Mozambique.
In the opening matches of the competition, Madagascar beat Mozambique 2-1, while Comoros and Seychelles played to a 1-1 draw at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Stuart Baxter’s men held their first training session on Sunday in preparation for the upcoming clash.
Xulu made his debut for the South African men's national team on June 15 2012 in a match against Gabon, when he substituted Morgan Gould in the 80th minute.
"I think that experience will help me in camp to lead the guys," Xulu said. "It is the responsibility I have to take as the captain and I am very honoured.
"It was a very huge surprise when the coach named me the captain. Coming back here is me saying to myself let me just learn new things from the other guys, let me reset my international career. It was me trying to refocus on my game, and the captaincy is not something I really expected.
"Personally, it has been a great year, I can actually label this as my best season ever.
"When one looks back two seasons ago things were not looking that great, me coming back and fighting for my position at Maritzburg United, earning a Bafana Bafana call-up and also being named captain of the squad."
