Bafana Bafana have called up Kaizer Chiefs attacking midfielder Mduduzi Shabalala to replace the injured Relebohile Mofokeng for the two vital Group C Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
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Bafana will play Zimbabwe on Friday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban and then take on Rwanda four days later at the Mbombela Stadium. Six points out of six is highly likely to be enough to take them to the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada next year.
Broos – Shabalala ‘knows where to run’
Mofokeng was injured playing for Pirates in their Carling Knockout win over Siwelele on Saturday.
Shabalala was also part of the squad for last month’s qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria, though he did not play.
“You have seen the games of Chiefs. I think he is someone who … knows where to run and where there is space. His best position for me is behind the striker so if we use him, we will use him in that position,” said Broos yesterday ahead of the side’s training session at Dobsonville Stadium.
Shabalala is only likely to play if there is an injury to Sipho Mbule, the Orlando Pirates attacking midfielder who impressed against Lesotho and Nigeria.
Bafana have been docked three points by Fifa for fielding an ineligible player – Teboho Mokoena – in their Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho in March.
With those three points, Bafana could have as good as qualified with a win over Zimbabwe. The game against the Warriors is technically away from home but is being played in Durban because Zimbabwe do not have a Fifa approved stadium in their own country.
‘We did what we had to do’
It is a real shame that the Mokoena error was made, because as Broos says, it is likely Bafana would have beaten Lesotho without the Sundowns midfielder.
“We would have won against Lesotho without Teboho, we won against Benin without him a few days later,” said Broos.
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“Normally we would have 17 points. If you see the performance over the last two years (of World Cup qualifying) only one team deserves to go there. We did what we had to do, even if we did something (against Lesotho) that we were not allowed to do.
“Even if we were three points ahead we would have had to win our last two games to mathematically be sure to qualify. So it is not a change for us,” he added.
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