After years of being on the fringes of the national team, Cyrus-based Luther Singh and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Cassius Mailula are happy to be back in the Bafana Bafana setup under new coach Pitso Mosimane.
The two attacking players reported for camp on Sunday ahead of back-to-back 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the international friendly against Egypt.
Mosimane says all the locally based players have reported for camp, while Singh and Norway-based Samukele Kabini have also joined the squad in Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, Mosimane also revealed that they will make a decision on Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Lebohang Maboe once scans have revealed the extent of his ankle injury sustained on Sunday.
Mosimane’s appointment as Bafana Bafana coach gave hope to some players who had been yearning for an opportunity to be part of the national team.
Singh and Mailula were among those who had hoped to get another crack at playing at the highest level. The two had both caught the eye of Hugo Broos at some point but never really featured in his plans.
They were both elated when they received the news of their call up to the national team and another chance to represent their country.
“I had hope that one day maybe I will get the chance again and it happened thank God it happened again. I am just grateful that I got another opportunity to be here and for sure I will grab it with both hands because the opportunity came again and we will just continue to work and see after this.” says Singh.
“I’ve always believed that I belong to the national team because of the quality I have even with previous coach I was called up but things didn’t work out but coming back home it gave me confidence and I am happy.” says Mailula.
All locally based players have reported for camp, while most of the overseas-based players are expected to join during the course of the week. Only Singh and Norway-based Samukele Kabini had reported for camp ahead of the team’s first training session on Monday afternoon.
“We have everybody of the locally based players in the camp. That’s so good to have everybody reporting on time you know Puso and the others who were playing yesterday like Puso there’s no direct flight.” says Mosimane.
Meanwhile, Marcus Mashilo has joined Bafana Bafana as goalkeeper coach and completes Mosimane’s technical team. The seasoned goalkeeper coach has worked at Mamelodi Sundowns and Golden Arrows and takes over from Grant Johnson who served under Broos.
