Katondo and his charges are in the country preparing for tomorrow night’s Nelson Mandela Challenge at Soccer City.
“The SA team has not being performing well lately, and against us are expected to produce the performance they’re known for,” says Katondo who is reportedly packing his bags back to SA for yet to be confirmed outfit.
Rumourmill has it that, Amakhozi could be the one!
Asked on SABC1 sport last night which team he would be joining, the -cool as –cucumber Gold medal of winner of 2011 AFCON, Katondo kept mum!
Meanwhile, Bafana coach Gordon Igesund has penned a poem titled “In Loving Memory of Tommy Madigage”.
The pressure is on Bafana Bafana to get to the semifinals and win the Africa Cup of Nations. Yes, we want to win (against Zambia) and do well and I think we will. This will also be a special day because Tommy would have turned 42.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, Igesund said he will use the game to assess areas where the side needed to improve ahead of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
“There is no pressure on Bafana Bafana to win a friendly match. This will give us an idea of where we are in terms of the preparations for Afcon,” Igesund said.
“We need to win the match for him and also show progress ahead of the Afcon finals.
“South Africans must come in big numbers and support us.”
Igesund is keeping tabs on players coming back from injury like Benni McCarthy, Thulani Serero, Morgan Gould, David Mathebula, Davide Somma and Daylon Claasen.
“They must play well and regularly for them to be considered,” Igesund said.
“We need to make sure we come up with the strongest possible squad for the tournament, which is why I went to England to negotiate for an earlier release of players like Kagisho Dikgacoi and Dean Furman.
“I’m happy that I will be getting them on January 1,” said the coach.
Igesund also said he has abandoned the bid to get Norwich midfielder Andrew Surman to play for the national team. “After about six minutes, it was clear he didn’t show us the interest.”
Igesund thanked the PSL for agreeing to give him access to their clubs’ training sessions and releasing selected players on December 19 to start with the final Afcon preparations.
“The support I get from Safa and PSL is great.”
