Photo Credit - Bafana Bafana - South Africa.
South Africa coach Molefi Ntseki has made several changes to the Bafana Bafana squad as they prepare to depart for their return leg of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualyfing fixture against Egypt on Sunday.
With the two teams currently level at 1-1 from the first leg fixture, coach Nteski is not taking any chances in his quest to qualify Bafana for the competition to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Ntseki and his charges returned to Johannesburg on Monday, and he confirmed several changes to his squad with new faces joining the camp, while some players have been released back to their clubs.
Among those released include Nduduzo Mhlongo from Golden Arrows, Naledi Hlongwane from Kaizer Chiefs, and Monnapule Saleng and Azola Tshobeni from Orlando Pirates while the new arrivals include Victor Letsoalo from TS Galaxy, and Mondli Mpoto and Levy Mashiane from Royal AM.
Explaining his decision, Nteski said as quoted by SAFA website: “So, what we did when we got to camp, we did a squad profile to see who is playing and who is better in which positions in terms of our approach. With us doing that, we also worked on the structure.
“We realized that after the game in Bloemfontein, there are certain positions that we needed to reinforce, especially with us having to go and play Egypt in Egypt. So, we have released a few of our players that came to camp last week. We have brought in a few of the players in terms of the squad balance. We had to thank them by releasing these players back to their clubs.”
Nteski added: “The players that are here will give us a very good balance, so we are looking forward to giving other players a chance like those that were given a chance against Egypt in the first leg. They did well and we are very positive with what we have in camp going into Egypt. We know they will be giving their best and the best for their country.”
The winner of this two-legged contest will proceed to the second round of the CHAN qualifiers to be played in May 2025.
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