National team doctor Tshepo Molobi is happy with the clean bill of health in Bafana Bafana camp ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Morocco on Saturday.
Molobi praised the players for their professionalism even though the camp is right in the middle of the off-season break.
Bafana cross swords against Morocco in the final match of Group K. The fixture will provide both countries with a good practice game and to test fringe players because they have already qualified for the Afcon tournament which will be held in Ivory Coast in January.
A lot of attention will be put on the Atlas Lions after they made history by becoming the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar in 2022. They were knocked out by France.
“Fortunately, at this senior level the players have had a long season and they have been very active. They are seasoned professionals and it was not as if we were starting from zero, it really shows professionalism from their part,” said Molobi.
“That helps a lot and we are basically building upon what is already there. I want to praise our clubs, locally and overseas – it is very pleasing, and we are happy with that.
“From a medical perspective, I am happy, and we are good to go. The thinking behind the pre-camp was to catch up, you must remember that the many of the players were on off-season and had last played a match on May 20 and with a few playing on the May 27.”
He explained further: “So, this is to catch up, and not to go into a critical match with a team whose fitness level is dented because they have not played or being competitive in a while.
“We needed to come up with a programme so that our players are able to catch up and compete. We needed to have a base and point of reference to assist our players with the weaknesses they may have.
“The whole purpose is to device a programme to improve performances and for injury prevention. We will do a barrage of testing later in the year and that will assist us in our plans for the upcoming Afcon.”
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