Igesund bemoans lack of time
Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund has again bemoaned the limited preparation time the team has prior to its international friendly against Malawi in Durban on Saturday.
"I've had five games so far and seven training sessions," Igesund said on Thursday.
"For the game on Saturday, there is extremely little time as well. There's no set-piece training or any sort of tactical training before the matches."
The South Africa players arrived in Durban on Thursday with 23 out of the 24 players named last week reporting to camp.
The only absentee was Belgium-based midfielder Ayanda Patosi, whose club Lokeren exercised its right not to release him due to the match being on a non-Fifa date.
Igesund admitted the short preparation time for the game, as with his previous five matches in charge, was far too short, insisting the real preparation would begin once they started their pre-Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) camp early next month.
"So my preparation for Afcon will start on January 2 when I'll have the players in Cape Town (for a 17-day training camp)," he said.
"I'll have them in the morning, I'll have them in the afternoon and I'll have them in the evening to talk to them, to get into their heads, to psychologically tell them how we're going to play, practically do things on the field, watch DVDs and get the team into some kind of a unit.
"This is not something that happens over one day, it happens over a few weeks of training together and I'm quite confident that in that time we can gel and by the time January 19 comes we'll be ready."
The current group of players will have a light training session later on Thursday, and another brief one on Friday prior to Saturday's clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
"With these games at the moment, the players are just going out on the field," Igesund said.
"When a player has the ball, the players around him don't know exactly what he's going to do with it."
Igesund will announce his final 23-man squad for the January 19 to February 10 continental spectacle on December 30.
Bafana will play Norway (January 8) and Algeria (January 12) in their final warm-up match before their Afcon opener against Cape Verde Islands on January 19. They will also face Angola and Morocco in Group A.
Igesund said despite their lack of preparation, he was targeting nothing less than a win on Saturday.
"We always want to win every game and that's how I am, that's how I want the team to be and that's how we'll hopefully be on Saturday," he said.
Bafana Bafana squad:
Goalkeepers: Itumeleng Khune, Wayne Sandilands, Senzo Meyiwa.
Defenders: Siyabonga Sangweni, Bevan Fransman, Thabo Nthethe, Thabo Matlaba, Siyanda Xulu, Tsepo Masilela, Siboniso Gaxa.
Midfielders: Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Lerato Chabangu, Oupa Manyisa, Thuso Phala, Sifiso Myeni, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Delron Buckley, May Mahlangu, Thanduyise Khuboni, Daine Klate.
Strikers: Bernard Parker, Lehlohonolo Majoro, Tokelo Rantie.
Players to be added after Malawi match: Darren Keet, Eric Mathoho, Anele Ngcongca, Andile Jali, Teko Modise, Bongani Khumalo, Ricardo Nunes, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Dean Furman, Thulani Serero, Katlego Mphela, Benni McCarthy.
