Goalkeeper chooses Zambia over Bafana
Bafana Bafana have missed out of goalkeeping prospect, Cyril Chibwe of Polokwane City who is currently in camp with Zambia’s Chipolopolo team.
Mwenya Chibwe of Polokwane City (Photo by Richard Huggard/Gallo Images)
The 26-year-old Chibwe has shown glimpses of becoming a top keeper and Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki was looking to give him a chance in his team but found out that he had already opted for Zambia.
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Chibwe was born in the North West to a South African mother but his father is Zambian. “If you look at Darren and Ronwen, they have been around for a while now. So we need to have someone who will be looking up to and learning from them going forward. We did our research on Cyril Chibwe of Polokwane City. He is a South African, he was born in North West and we sent a call-up for him to join us for this camp,” said Ntseki on Monday.
“But unfortunately he will be turning out for his father’s country which is Zambia. He has joined the Zambians in camp and that is why we had to call for (Ricardo) Goss. He and Chibwe are the same age as they were born in 1993.
“Maybe he was approached before we did. Maybe they made the necessary preparations for him to join them because I think if he didn’t have a Zambian passport they had to do it for him and all the other necessary documents.
“It is not a bad thing. We also have some players who were raised overseas who feel they have to come and play for Bafana Bafana and we are in the process of speaking to them and their parents,” explained the Bafana mentor.
Ntseki said the idea was to have more younger keepers coming in so they can learn as much as they can from the old guard which includes Ronwen Williams and Darren Keet.
“We are actually looking forward to bringing more younger goalkeepers so they can learn from the older guys,” he said.
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