Bafana Bafana's 2-1 Cosafa Cup quarterfinal win against Namibia in Lusaka, Gordon Igesund is now more determined to turn some of the unfamiliar faces that impressed at the weekend into national team regulars.The Bafana coach says he spent the first two days ahead of the clash working to make sure the "new team" kept its shape against Namibia at Nkoloma Stadium - a game and result that has given him enough to think about.
Bafana have now moved from Lusaka to Ndola to take on hosts Zambia in the semifinal on Wednesday night.
Thulani Hlatshwayo, Lebogang Manyama, Jabulani Shongwe and Ruzaigh Gamildien all played key roles against neighbours Namibia and could easily be in the starting line-up on Wednesday. Shongwe scored the first goal, with Hlompho Kekana netting the other.
Gamildien came off the bench to improve Bafana's second-half performance and earned himself the man-of-the-match award.
Igesund has promised to again ring the changes to see what the rest of the squad - considered a third-string Bafana side - can do.
Asked whether one match was enough to decide if these faces could be seen in future Bafana games, he said it was early days.
"There's probably still another 40 players that did not get the chance because I wasn't able to pick them for this tournament.
"I can start mentioning names like Bongani Zungu, Ryan Chapman, Sibusiso Vilakazi, but it's unfair for me to go on.
"We've worked hard to have this pool of players and I think if we can get five or six of them to be regular senior internationals, we would have done a good job."
Igesund was willing to go into detail about what - and which players - impressed him against Namibia at the weekend.
"I thought Hlatshwayo [who played at rightback] was excellent, with a good football brain and didn't easily give the ball away. He is decisively quick and can shoot from a distance."
On Gamildien he said: "He plays with that arrogance that says 'I know I'm a good player' and doesn't have to be nervous."
Igesund singled out midfielder Lerato Chabangu for his contribution. He was also delighted to have defender Bevan Fransman available for the semifinals.
Fransman was held back in South Africa by his club Supersport United to be part of the side's pre-season friendly against English Premier League outfit Manchester City at Loftus Stadium yesterday.
"I don't want to think too much about the next match, but there will definitely be about four or five changes to the starting line-up."
Zambia moved comfortably past Mozambique 3-1 yesterday in the second quarterfinal double-header.
Lesotho will take on Zimbabwe in the first semifinal on Wednesday at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.
They beat Angola on penalties after the game ended 1-1.
Source : sportlive.co.za
tags : bafana, Gordon Igesund, bafana vs namibia, bongani zulu, Sibusiso Vilakazi,