Almost unbelievably‚ South African junior international Lebogang Phiri will start his 2016-17 season on Thursday night when his Danish side Brondby take on Valur in Iceland in the Uefa Europa League.
It has been just a month since Phiri played his final game of the last campaign and in-between he has been mostly on national team duty with the South African Under-23 team.
He has been included in the 18-man squad for the Europa game by his club‚ which meant he skipped the U-23s’ friendly in Japan on Wednesday‚ which they lost 4-1.
“The Europa League is a good competition to play in for me‚ so I really don’t mind [about the lack of a break]‚” Phiri told TMG Digital.
“It’s a good opportunity to learn and face different types of opposition.
“The club takes the competition very seriously and for us it is the start of a long season.”
Phiri previously confirmed to Times Media that his team’s participation in the Europa League was one of the reasons why he is unsure of his participation at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August.
It therefore‚ selfishly‚ might work in the favour of U-23 coach Owen da Gama’s side if Brondby make a surprise early exit from the competition‚ though that seems unlikely.
Former Ajax Cape Town midfielder Granwald Scott was on the bench for Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava as they got their season under way on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw against Albanian side Partizani Tirana.
Scott and his teammates will expect to complete the job next week at home‚ with Icelandic side Breiðablik or Jelgava from Latvia waiting in the next round.
Callum Paterson‚ who had been attracting the attention of the South African selectors in recent months at Scottish side Hearts‚ begins his season on Thursday night at home to Estonian side Infonet Tallinn.
But the fact that he made his international debut for Scotland against Italy recently rules him out of contention for Bafana Bafana.
Other South African players who will begin playing in the later rounds of the Europa League are Tefu Mashamaite (Hacken‚ Sweden‚ in the second round)‚ Lebogang Mothiba (Lille‚ France‚ third round) and Marvin Graf (FC Zurich‚ Switzerland‚ group stages).
Thulani Serero‚ should he stay at Ajax Amsterdam‚ will be South Africa’s only representative in this year’s Uefa Champions League.
No rest for Phiri as Brondby begin Europa League campaign
Almost unbelievably‚ South African junior international Lebogang Phiri will start his 2016-17 season on Thursday night when his Danish side Brondby take on Valur in Iceland in the Uefa Europa League.
It has been just a month since Phiri played his final game of the last campaign and in-between he has been mostly on national team duty with the South African Under-23 team.
He has been included in the 18-man squad for the Europa game by his club‚ which meant he skipped the U-23s’ friendly in Japan on Wednesday‚ which they lost 4-1.
“The Europa League is a good competition to play in for me‚ so I really don’t mind [about the lack of a break]‚” Phiri told TMG Digital.
“It’s a good opportunity to learn and face different types of opposition.
“The club takes the competition very seriously and for us it is the start of a long season.”
Phiri previously confirmed to Times Media that his team’s participation in the Europa League was one of the reasons why he is unsure of his participation at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August.
It therefore‚ selfishly‚ might work in the favour of U-23 coach Owen da Gama’s side if Brondby make a surprise early exit from the competition‚ though that seems unlikely.
Former Ajax Cape Town midfielder Granwald Scott was on the bench for Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava as they got their season under way on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw against Albanian side Partizani Tirana.
Scott and his teammates will expect to complete the job next week at home‚ with Icelandic side Breiðablik or Jelgava from Latvia waiting in the next round.
Callum Paterson‚ who had been attracting the attention of the South African selectors in recent months at Scottish side Hearts‚ begins his season on Thursday night at home to Estonian side Infonet Tallinn.
But the fact that he made his international debut for Scotland against Italy recently rules him out of contention for Bafana Bafana.
Other South African players who will begin playing in the later rounds of the Europa League are Tefu Mashamaite (Hacken‚ Sweden‚ in the second round)‚ Lebogang Mothiba (Lille‚ France‚ third round) and Marvin Graf (FC Zurich‚ Switzerland‚ group stages).
Thulani Serero‚ should he stay at Ajax Amsterdam‚ will be South Africa’s only representative in this year’s Uefa Champions League.
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