Posted in News on Jun 10, 2005.
SAPA reported that Bafana Bafana on Thursday received a disturbing setback for next Saturday's crunch World Cup game against Ghana when experienced German-based left-back Bradley Carnell withdrew from the squad as a result of a persistent ankle injury.
Yet this might not have been the worst of the bad tidings for coach Stuart Baxter, with pivotal number one goalkeeper Hans Vonk also listed a doubtful starter.
Vonk, one of the heroes of South Africa's gruelling 2-1 World Cup qualifying success against the Cape Verde Islands last Saturday, injured his hand and head while making a point-blank save late in the game that went a long way towards Bafana securing a priceless victory.
"But it's neither of these injuries that is now the problem," revealed Baxter. "Hans is suffering from a recurring back injury that has worried him all season and reported from Holland on Thursday that he is in considerable pain."
The absence of the experienced Ajax Amsterdam player from the game against Ghana's Black Stars would be a crushing blow for Bafana, both because of his high level of goalkeeping and as an organiser of the Bafana defence generally.
The seriousness with which Baxter views the Vonk blow was emphasised by an immediate announcement from the Bafana coach that he is calling up a third goalkeeper, Kaizer Chiefs' Rowen Fernandes, to join Vonk and number two Calvin Marlin in the squad's goalkeeping department.
And Baxter is leaving nothing to chance and says he will have a fourth goalkeeper "with the necessary experience for the occasion" standing by in case Vonk is forced to pull out of the squad.
Carnell's withdrawal is also disquieting for the Bafana coach, but with two left-backs in Ricardo Katza and Thabiso Rammile already in the squad, Baxter has no plans to call up further replacements in this department.
"For the rest," said the Bafana coach, "the players are due to report to the training camp in Johannesburg on Sunday - and I'm hoping Vonk will be one of them. Whether he is fit to play against Ghana is another matter."
