Bafana should have a full squad by Tuesday evening, when Lyle Foster, Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Puso Dithejane arrive from the United States, reports iDiski Times.
The MLS trio were the last to finish club duty. Their final regular-season games kicked off in the early hours of Sunday in South Africa, so they’re arriving after the rest of the squad. The locally based players reported on Monday, and most of the Europe-based group came in on Tuesday morning.
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“All well, no complaints at the moment, everyone that’s supposed to be in camp is here,” Pitso Mosimane said. “The US players were playing early on Sunday morning, so we expect them to arrive this evening so we can have a full team. So far from the players who have arrived, the doctor has given us the green light.”
But the Bafana coach admitted a few players picked up knocks at the weekend.
“We have those knocks that could be okay in a few days,” he said. “We still have to assess those who played early on the Sunday morning or afternoon, depending on the time zone in USA. Then we can have a full update of injuries.”
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Mosimane said international managers rarely know who is available until close to kick-off.
“You know how it is in the national team, who is available until maybe three days before the match, to be honest,” he said. “That’s the life of international football as coach. You don’t have four, five days as you want. The other one and a half days are used for travelling and those small knocks and injuries.”
For now, he’s relaxed. “So far so good, no big complaints,” he said. “We will see now in training who is feeling what. It’s not easy to tell, but we are good.”
South Africa host Kenya at Orlando Stadium on Friday at 18:00, then travel to Nairobi for the return game on Tuesday, 17 November.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
