Tournament News
Bafana's workload increase
2008-09-19 18:53
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Johannesburg - Safa on Friday revealed details of a busy programme for Bafana Bafana leading up to the 2010 World Cup - with reciprocal games against Holland and an away fixture against Germany the high points.
At a meeting, which seemed principally designed to cement a more cordial relationship with a critical media, Safa head Raymond Hack said that Bafana's next full-scale international against Ghana next month would be played in Bloemfontein - with the venue for the Nelson Mandela Challenge against Cameroon in November also almost certain to be staged outside the Gauteng area.
Bafana will face Malawi in what was termed a "training game" at Germiston Stadium at the end of the month and play Chile in South Africa in February. The squad will also go to South America for a reciprocal game early in 2010.
A sore point
"The erection of new stadiums and the renovations of others for the World Cup leaves us with limited venue options for Bafana at this stage," added Hack, "but we have utilised almost every available date set aside by Fifa for internationals to give Bafana the chance to further their preparation for the World Cup."
Hack also appealed to the media to show respect and tolerance towards the under-pressure Joel Santana and avoid personal attacks on the Bafana coach and other officials - with South Africa's failure to qualify for the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola still a sore point.
And, in what appears a new reconciliatory approach, Safa intend to introduce a format whereby the media will have closer contact with the Bafana technical team - and thereby obtain greater insight into the problems facing the national squad.
Unlikely to attend
In a desperate attempt to make up lost ground, Safa will organise camps for Bafana players to commence as early as January or February, with the PSL agreeing to complete their Premier League programme for the season before then.
The project, however, could run into difficulties with Bafana's substantial contingent of overseas-based players unlikely to attend.
And Hack said it had still to be decided whether players selected for the Bafana camps - some of which will be held in South America - would be given dispensation to feature for their clubs in PSL cup competitions in 2010 before World Cup preparation begins in earnest in May.