Johannesburg – Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba admits he faces a selection conundrum ahead of the 2015 Caf Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
“It's going to be tough to select the final 23 players. The bulk of the players in camp are the ones who helped us during the qualifiers and none of them want to remain behind,” Mashaba said on Sunday.
The national team, consisting of 27 home-based players had held their first training session at the University of Johannesburg.
Overseas-based players were expected to start arriving later during the day, with captain Dean Furman only set to link-up with the squad on January 4.
Mashaba has the tough task of trimming the squad down to 23
players for the continental showdown.
The final team announcement is set to be made on Tuesday before the championship taking place from January 17 to February 8.
After the first team practice, Mashaba said a lot of work lied for those players hoping to make the grade.
“From the training session this morning, there is a bit of lethargy in their performance. They were not as vibrant as one would have expected.
“But I think the second training session will be better than this one. It is going to be tough. You can see that every player wants to be part of the final squad.”
The foreign-based contingent would have to fight for their positions in the final squad, he said.
“It is not a problem as such, but we would have loved for everybody to come and compete for a position. We don't want people to come here guaranteed of a place in the team but unfortunately it is not in our hands, they have programmes that they need to complete at their clubs before coming to the national team.”
Bafana would be tested against Zambia in a friendly at the Orlando Stadium on January 4. – Sapa