Posted in News on Jan 22, 2010.
on Saturday. Kick-off is at 4pm.
Parreira took his first major step in
preparing Bafana for what will be a difficult World Cup finals in
June, when he called up 29 PSL players for a two-week training camp
in Durban, which will culminate in the full friendly international
against Zimbabwe at the Moses Mabhida Stadium next Wednesday night
at 8.30pm.
Parreira will be looking for players who fit into his game plan
and philosophy.
Bafana assistant coach Pitso Mosimane said the Brazilian head
coach will give as many players in his current squad as possible a run out
against the Swazis in order to get a look at them under competitive
match conditions.
There will be no caps awarded for this match but there will also
be no excuses either from Parreira, should the Swazis be tougher to
crack than expected.
Mosimane said: “We have taken 29 players into this first camp of
2010 in Durban, which gives Parreira the opportunity to work close
up with players he has not had contact with before.”
Mosimane stressed that the bigger match was the
international friendly against Zimbabwe at the new World Cup venue
next Wednesday, where caps will be awarded.
“There is nothing at stake in terms of world ranking points
against Swaziland, except that it is an important part of our
preparation.
"However, the game against Zimbabwe is the real thing and counts
towards our world ranking.”
Mosimane said that while Zimbabwe posed the bigger threat, Parreira
is not taking Swaziland lightly.
“We know Swaziland have nothing to lose and everything to gain
to try and beat us. Add the fact they have a former Bafana coach, in
Shakes Mashaba, in charge and that makes our job doubly harder.”
Mosimane said they had not agreed on how many substitutes they
can use, but said it would be a lot more that the usual five used
in friendly games.
“We cannot play everybody, but we will try and give as many as
we can a run -- after all that is why we called them into the camp.”
Mosimane stressed the technical team had worked hard since they
made camp in Durban on Monday.
'We have worked on tactics and physical training. It is not an
easy job combining the two, but as the players came off a break we
had no choice.
"Also we have to get the balance right in that we want to make
sure we return the players to their clubs next Thursday in peak
physical and mental condition.
“It has been a hard week, training twice a day, but should bear
fruit, hopefully by the time we play Zimbabwe.
"The Swaziland match will be a warm-up and will afford players a
chance to impress and Parreira a chance to work out his combinations and
tactics that he has tried at training.”
