Captain Mokoena set to reach S.Africa milestone

Captain Aaron Mokoena will become the first South African footballer to be capped 100 times if he faces Guatemala Monday in a World Cup warm-up.

The 29-year-old popularly known as Mbazo (The Axe) operates as a central defender for his country while English club Portsmouth normally deploy him further forward in various midfield positions.

He first played for Bafana Bafana (The Boys) 11 years ago against Botswana and is a certain starter in the opening World Cup fixture on June 11 against Mexico at the 90,000-seat Soccer City on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

“Winning 100 caps would mean a lot to me although the most important thing is to represent my country. I am honoured to be on the verge of reaching this achievement,” said Mokoena.

South Africa coaches favour centrebacks when choosing captains and among the most famous are Neil Tovey, skipper of the 1996 African Nations Cup-winning team, and former Leeds United star Lucas Radebe.

The fixture against Central American minnows Guatemala is the penultimate warm-up for South Africa before they become the first country on the continent to host the four-yearly international football showpiece.

Brazil-born coach Carlos Alberto Parreira craved a showdown with two-time world champions Argentina and when lengthy negotiations failed, he rejected Panama believing his worldwide contacts could lure stronger rivals.

But as time ticked away South Africa had to settle for a Guatemala team 40 places below Pamana in the FIFA monthly rankings for the friendly at Peter Mokaba Stadium, a World Cup venue in northern city Polokwane.

The match offers 1994 World Cup-winning coach Parreira a last chance to consider options before revealing Tuesday his 23-man squad for demanding Group A matches against top-20 ranked trio Mexico, Uruguay and France.

Although among the 30 preliminary squad names, centreback Bevan Fransman was not flown home from his Israel base and a heart condition has ruled midfielder Andile Jali out of contention.

That leaves five more to be dropped and goalkeepers Rowan Fernandez and Shuaib Walters, rightbacks Bryce Moon and Ancele Ngcongca and midfielder Macbeth Sibaya will be hoping for a first chance to impress.

None of the quintet has played against Thailand, Bulgaria or Colombia this month when Bafana extended to 10 matches an unbeaten run since Parreira returned last November for a second spell in charge.

Many South Africans consider Greece-based Moon a superior rightback to incumbent Siboniso Gaxa because he is more effective pushing forward while Sibaya is a 52-cap defensive midfielder with vast international experience.

Walters, Ngcongca, leftback Innocent Mdledle and midfielders Lance Davids and Franklin Cale are considered the likeliest omissions, but the task facing Parreira could be complicated by injuries.

A couple of first choices, goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and leftback Tsepo Masilela, were injured in the bruising 2-1 victory over Colombia in Johannesburg three days ago and missed weekend training.

South Africa complete their warm-ups near Pretoria on June 5 against fellow qualifiers Denmark, who arived in the country on Saturday to prepare for Group E rivals Netherlands, Cameroon and Japan.