I kind of expected my exclusion from the Bafana Afcon squad: Serero

09 January 2015 - 02:36 By Mazola Molefe
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Bafana Bafana's Thulani Serero, one of the best young players on the continent.
Bafana Bafana's Thulani Serero, one of the best young players on the continent.
Image: GALLO IMAGES

Thulani Serero has told Ajax Amsterdam TV he did not expect to make Bafana Bafana's Africa Cup of Nations squad, fuelling speculation that the Dutch-based playmaker engineered his own omission from coach Shakes Mashaba's final 23-man squad travelling to Equatorial Guinea.

In an interview with his club's media department in Qatar, where Ajax are holding their mid-season training camp, Serero's honesty when asked for his thoughts on missing the Afcon took even the interviewer by surprise.

The midfielder was in South Africa ahead of the mini-training camp Mashaba had organised - from Boxing Day until December 30 - to assess his provisional team of 34 players. But Serero failed to make an appearance.

He was instead spotted at the Discovery Walter Sisulu Challenge in Soweto after Ajax had allowed him to take a festive season break.

This led to his exclusion from the Afcon squad.

"I was not chosen for my national team, so I had to come back and train with the team. And now all my focus is here," Serero said.

The interviewer then asked if he was disappointed, to which Serero responded: "Nah, not really. For me, no. I think you kind of expect it as a footballer. You can't always put your hopes on getting selected, but [you should] be open to the possibility that you won't be."

Serero has long been accused of prioritising his club over his country. This dates back to September two years ago when he told then national coach Gordon Igesund he was not too keen to play for Bafana Bafana against Botswana in a World Cup qualifier as he feared he would risk injury ahead of Ajax's European Champions League match two weeks later.

Igesund sent him packing, but the two patched things up when the coach recalled him for the friendly against Brazil at FNB Stadium six months later.

Mashaba, who took over from Igesund in July, did not pick Serero for Bafana Bafana's opening two Afcon qualifiers - against Sudan and Nigeria in September.

In total, the 24-year-old from Soweto featured in three of South Africa's six qualifiers.

He has quickly turned his attention to helping Ajax in their pursuit to win the title when the second half of the Eredivisie resumes on Friday next week.

"From the start, there are important games and we need to win those games. I'm glad I'm here to help the team out. We're all on the same page and want to win the championship," Serero said.

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