Pitso Mosimane says Oswin Appollis’ workload will not prevent him from selecting the winger for South Africa’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Kenya.
Appollis has been described as “fatigued” by his club coach, Abdeslam Ouaddou, who has said the Orlando Pirates player needs “special management”.
The winger has started only four of the nine league matches in which he has appeared for Pirates this season. Ouaddou’s decision to limit his starts is based on concerns that Appollis could burn out after a demanding previous campaign, which included travelling to the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Mosimane, however, said South Africa’s schedule had not placed the same demands on Appollis and that he would select the best available players.
“We played once in two months, there’s no fatigue with us. So, the fatigue doesn’t belong with us,” Mosimane told a press gathering at Orlando Amstel Arena on Thursday.
“I choose the best player who is around and who is available, so I don’t overtrain, I don’t detrain the team… I just say ‘who’s available’, and if it is good for the country, I use that player.”
South Africa face Kenya at Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday at 18:00, with the Group D meeting forming part of their qualification campaign for next year’s Afcon.
The two sides will meet again in Nairobi four days later. That match will be their fourth game in the group.
Mosimane has also warned his players about the threat posed by Kenya captain Michael Olunga. The Bafana Bafana coach compared the striker with Serhou Guirassy, who plays for German club Borussia Dortmund.
“Last time we were dealing with Guirassy here [at Orlando Amstel Arena when Bafana beat Guinea 2-1 in their opening game of these Afcon qualifiers in September] from Dortmund, now we have Michael Olunga we have to deal with. Same, copy, but Olunga is faster than Guirassy,” Mosimane said.
He added that Olunga had not featured in Kenya’s previous few matches, but said the striker’s return represented a significant challenge for South Africa.
“So, it’s a difficult one and I think he [Olunga] hasn’t played in the past few matches for Kenya. He’s the captain of the team and he’s a legend of the team, so now he’s been brought back to the national team for this one.”
The comments were reported by Sowetan.
