Pitso Mosimane provides Aubrey Modiba injury update after Guinea win

Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane says Aubrey Modiba is struggling with a tight hamstring after being forced off in South Africa’s 2-1 victory over Guinea in their opening AFCON qualifier at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday.

The defender, a regular member of the Bafana Bafana side, could not finish the match and was replaced by Samukele Kabini.

Mosimane said the demands placed on his full-backs had contributed to Modiba’s problem, with the player unable to continue because of the hamstring issue.

“Aubrey is overloaded, my full-backs were on duty tonight. So, Aubrey is overloaded, but we have Kabini,” said Mosimane.

“Sebelebele is younger, and he can take the load, this guy can run all the time. So, Aubrey’s got a tight hamstring, which is not nice for us, but at least we still have Basadien, and we still have Kabini.”

It remains unclear whether Modiba will be available for South Africa’s upcoming matches. Mosimane believes, however, that naming a 30-man squad has given Bafana Bafana valuable cover as injuries begin to affect the group.

“Hence, we called 30 players, so you can see now, people are falling off, and we just played one match. I know it’s not easy for the football association to be giving me 30 players,” he continued.

Explaining the decision to select such a large squad, Mosimane said the demands of achieving results meant South Africa needed sufficient depth. He compared his preparations with those of Jurgen Klopp, who had been able to call up 42 players for four friendly games.

“But if we want to be at that level of the results, because this is the reality, this is the reality, so I don’t call 30 because I choose to call 30. Jurgen Klopp called 42, 42 players, he’s got four friendly games, I couldn’t do four, because I don’t want the coaches at Glasgow to be angry with me, and upset with me, that I’m playing four games, and all that.

“But Jurgen Klopp can do that, I’m not Jurgen Klopp, it’s not easy, but yeah, and also I want to to forge relationships with the teams, and give them the players before the FIFA break ends so that when I ask for a favour, also they should return the favour.”

Mosimane added that he would have preferred to play four friendlies, but South Africa had limited time before the AFCON finals. He said the matches would be the team’s final friendly fixtures before the tournament.

“So, I would like to play four, but yeah, and those are the last friendly games until AFCON finals, after that, there’s no any other space, so we need to stay with this team and wait for others to come.”