National Coach, Joel Natalino Santana, today announced a provisional list of 30 Players for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. This Team will go through an assessment programme and will be trimmed to a final team of 23 Players who will take part in the Confed Cup.
Santana says that the final Team will be selected on four key points including Technical ability, Discipline, Medical Assessment and Physical Condition. “The list of Players that we have announced today is a culmination of the programme started by Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira in 2007 together with Assistant Coaches, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal when the road map to the 2010 FIFA World Cup began. When I arrived in the Team 11 months ago, I continued with this process of looking at new talent and giving the identified Players international experience as we worked towards building a core of this Team. All these Players were assessed through various games, including national callups for the COSAFA Cup, Friendly Games and Training Matches. We also assessed Players at their clubs.
“When selecting the final 23 Players, we shall try and have two Players at each position, but the final Team will have three goalkeepers. I don’t know who will be in the final 23, because this will be based on the assessment done before 4 June 2009. However, I want to assure Players who will be dropped for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup that it does not mean they will not be considered for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This applies to Players who are also not in the provisional list of 30. My advice is that all players who will not take part in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, must continue to work hard at their game for future consideration. In football there are no guarantees. Today you may be in, tomorrow it could be someone else’s turn,” says Santana.
The Chief Executive Officer of the South African Football Association, Raymond Hack, is urging the whole nation to rally behind Bafana Bafana and the Technical Team. Hack says people might have different views on player selection, but the Association is confident that the best players have been selected to represent the country in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. “This is our final push to prepare a competitive team for the FIFA Confederations Cup, and as a proud host country, the Team will once more count on your unreserved support that has in the past ensured great victories against teams like Cameroon and recently, Norway.
“Our last Friendly Game against Poland on 6 June 2009 at Orlando Stadium starting at 3.30pm, will be a great send off for our boys. That match will be played at a historic venue in the South African football landscape, and we hope to carry the good fortunes out of that match into the Confederations Cup”, says Hack.
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