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'You have to keep working hard, you never know when the opportunity will come,' Van Rooyen told reporters this week.
Deano Van Rooyen is looking forward to his Bafana Bafana debut. Picture: Backpagepix
Orlando Pirates defender Deano Van Rooyen is excited to make his Bafana Bafana debut in the next few days, as South Africa take on Tanzania and Mozambique in international friendlies.
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Bafana will play Tanzania on Friday and Mozambique on Tuesday with both games now taking place at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Bafana’s move
Bafana’s game against Mozambique was originally scheduled to take place at Loftus Stadium in Tshwane. But it has been moved because the Bulls are playing a United Rugby Championships semifinal against the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday.
“It’s an honour to be selected for the Bafana Bafana squad. I have been working hard to get this opportunity. You have to keep working hard, you never know when the opportunity will come,” Van Rooyen told reporters this week.
“Now … the focus is to get a chance in the two games and give my best.”
“We had a good season at Orlando Pirates and a lot of our players gained a lot of experience of playing in the Caf Champions League”
Pirates’ had a fine season under now-departed Spanish head coach Jose Riveiro. They won the MTN8, finished second in the Betway Premiership, reached the semifinals of the Caf Champions League and the final of the Nedbank Cup.
Eight Buccaneers were named in Broos’ final squad for the games against Tanzania and Mozambique.
Four Pirates debuts
With Broos promising that every player in his squad will get a chance in the two friendlies, that means four Pirates players – Van Rooyen, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Simphiwe Selepe and Mohau Nkota – are set to make their debuts.
Kaizer Chiefs, meanwhile, have no players in the Bafana squad for these games, with Broos doubling down on his comments earlier this week that Chiefs have simply not been good enough this season.
“When I don’t take players from Chiefs, it’s like I have killed someone. It has nothing to do with clubs when I make choices. I don’t make choices because they are from Pirates or Chiefs,” Broos told reporters.
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“It’s a question of choice from my side. Sometimes it’s tactics, and sometimes it’s because the player is number two or three in terms of rankings in that position,”
“I make a choice without knowing if this player is from Chiefs or Chippa. I just take a player. If you have to drop players from big teams, what is the problem? You have to try to make a national team as strong as possible.”
