Tshabalala, who started during the Brazil camp, scoring five goals in nine practise games, including a stunner against Paraguay in the international friendly last month, joined his Bafana Bafana teammates as they flew out to Germany last night.

“The camp in Germany is a continuation of what we did in Brazil. This offers us an opportunity to test our strength against Germans, who are different to Brazilians in terms of their approach to the game. I am confident that these camps will help us as a team, to understand each other as players and also understand what the coach expects from each and everyone of us,” said Tshabalala.

‘Shabba’ also revealed that he would have loved to join his Club teammates on the pitch last Saturday. “I first want to congratulate the guys for such a wonderful victory. I must admit that I would have loved to feature in the final, but then again you have got to appreciate what the guys achieved, starting from a hard-fought win against Santos in Cape Town. It was not going to be fair for any of us just to play in the final. It was good to be on the stands supporting my mates…I kept on jumping up and down and finally, when the final whistle was blown, we were all delighted to have won the cup,”

“The guys should put the celebrations behind them though, as we have a tough Nedbank Cup fixture against SuperSport United on Sunday. I am optimistic that the guys will give their best in making sure that we bring the Cup home,” he added.

Meanwhile, Itumeleng Khune and Reneilwe Letsholonyane have both kept their places in the national team and joined their Bafana Bafana teammates for the camp in Germany.