Unfit Xulu shocked by Bafana callup

A late Bafana Bafana call-up has caught seasoned defender Siyanda Xulu by surprise, having been kicking his heels for five months until he found a new team last month.

Xulu has been included in the Bafana squad to face Sierra Leone and Botswana on Saturday and Tuesday, to replace injured Thibang Phete, who's plying his trade with Emirati club Al Bataeh these days. Both these friendlies are at FNB Stadium. The one against Sierra Leone kicks-off at 3pm while kick-off is 6pm against the Zebras.

Before linking up with Azerbaijani outfit Turan Tovuz IK almost four weeks ago, Xulu had been unattached since leaving Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv in March this year. The 30-year-old well-travelled centre-back has managed two 90 minutes in his new team's last two outings. Even so, Xulu hasn't hidden the Bafana inclusion surprised him, saying he wasn't really ready.

"I was very surprised to get a call-up because I communicate with the coach [Hugo Broos] constantly as you know I am the vice-captain of the group,'' Xulu told the media at Dobsonville Stadium yesterday, where Bafana were due to have their first training session before Stadium Management asked the session to be called-off as they were working to improve the turf at the venue.

"So we were in communication about my fitness level and the coach was the one who was always asking me how everything is going...there was a bit of improvement [as far as his fitness levels were concerned] that's where he called me to come back to the team. To be honest with you, I wasn't really ready. But obviously, I have been part of the group before." 

Meanwhile, Broos sounded disappointed that they couldn't train yesterday on account of some pitch refurbishments at Dobsonville Stadium. "I didn't know we couldn't train on the pitch today. If you ask me where we are going to train, I can't answer you because we didn't do it [meaning they were not responsible],'' noted the forever direct Broos.