Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira announced his 22-man squad to face defending Fifa World Cup Champions Italy in a friendly game in Italy on the 18th October, late on Wednesday morning at SAFA House in Nasrec in Johannesburg.

The 64-year-old former Brazilian FIFA World Cup winning coach said that he has selected his most experienced as well as players currently on form for the October 18 clash with The Azzurri.

He has also included Chiefs players defender Cyril Nzama and midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala in his 22 men squad, Tshabalala was recently called up by Parreira to participate in a COSAFA Cup semi final game against Botswana but because the game clashed with Chiefs Telkom Knock Out Cup last 16 tie with Moroka Swallows he was unable to fulfill his call up.

On-form Tshabalala

Parreira has been a long time fan of Tshbalala and included him in his initial training camps when he took up his post as Bafana Bafana coach, even though the Amakhosi midfielder was still recovering from injury in the earlier part of this year.

The Brazilian did not hold back his praise for the Tshabalala during Wednesday's media briefing say of The Amakhosi number 14, “for the past four games I have been monitoring Siphiwe and I have found him to really be on top of his game, I do not think that there is any player in the country playing the way he is at the moment. The kind of player that Siphiwe is and his pace and ability to send in dangerous balls into the box make him a real asset for the team”.

Always in

While there was a suggestion that Tshabalala was included in the team due to the fact that Parreira had a number of players out injured, the coach said this was untrue stating, “ this is not the case even if I had ever player possible available for selection I would have still chosen Siphiwe for the Italy match. I need to choose the best players for every game and the ones who I feel are playing well right now and Siphiwe fits that bill and given his current form he it is justified for him to be in the national team”.

Waiting is over

Tshabalala, who last turned out for the national team in the 2006 Nelson Mandela Inauguration game against Egypt in London in November, was ecstatic when he was given the news on Wednesday by kaizerchiefs.com that he would be facing the World Champions in a few weeks time. An over joyed Tshabalala’s immediately exclaimed when given the news of his call up “finally”, he then went on to add “I have waited so many months for this and I am glad to be back in the national team and to play in a game against the 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners is an honor”.

Ready to test Blue Pride

Tshabalala, whose recent form for The Amakhosi in both the league and Telkom Cup caught the attention of the national team coach, says that it will be an anxious wait till the 18th October and he will be counting the days and the minutes to the game with the Italians.

“When you a young boy you dream about the day you can get to face the best team and the best players in the world, facing The Azzurri and their start studded line up will be enough motivation for me to do well in the game” added Tshabalala. Playing against the world champions according to Siphiwe will only add towards making him a better player as he explained, “facing up to players of the caliber of Andrea Pirlo and Fabio Cannavaro will only aide in helping me to become a more accomplished footballer, as a player you always enjoy the opportunity to test yourself against the worlds best and this game affords me the chance to test my skills and abilities against the best in the world”.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Rowen Fernandez (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Calvin Marlin (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Defenders: Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn Rovers, England), Bradley Carnell (Karlsruhe, Germany), Nasief Morris (Panathinaikos, Greece), Cyril Nzama (Kaizer Chiefs), Vuyo Mere (Mamelodi Sundowns), Bevan Fransman (Moroka Swallows), Brett Evans (Ajax Cape Town), Benson Mhlongo (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Midfielders: Macbeth Sibaya (Rubin Kazan, Russia), Steven Pienaar (Everton, England), Siphiwe Tshabalala (Kaizer Chiefs), Bamuza Sono (Jomo Cosmos), Lance Davids (Djurgardens IF), Siyabonga Nkosi (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Teko Modise (Orlando Pirates), Delron Buckley (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)

Forwards: Siyabonga Nomvete (Aalborg, Denmark), Benedict McCarthy (Blackburn Rovers, England), Thembinkosi Fanteni (Ajax Cape Town)