New national team coach Shakes Mashaba, who has been tasked with building a new, young Bafana Bafana, has received a timely boost with the news that attacking midfielder Ayanda Patosi will be fit for the 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers in September.
The Lokeren midfielder, so impressive on the Australasian tour with the national side at the end of last season, recently underwent knee surgery that had threatened his participation for games away in Sudan and home to Nigeria that will get Bafana’s qualification campaign under way.
Patosi says he is “two or three weeks” away from being fully fit and that will leave him time to reclaim his excellent pre-season form ahead of Bafana’s first qualifier in Sudan on the weekend of September 5-6.
Patosi’s national team career has been stop- start, with injuries bringing it to a halt just when he seemed to be making progress.
He was one of the star performers for the side on their tour of Australia and New Zealand in late May, where he linked well with Thulani Serero.
Patosi scored his first international goal in the 1-1 draw with Australia in Sydney. The Cape Town- born player has five national team caps since making his debut against Morocco in October 2013.
He will be 29 years old at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and potentially in the prime of his career if he can stay fit and focused.
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