Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki has confirmed that Polokwane City goalkeeper Cyril Chibwe has opted to represent Zambia instead of South Africa.
Chibwe was born on North West to a South African mother and a Zambian father but has joined the Chipolopolo camp during the ongoing Fifa international break.
Ntseki also explained his decision behind the inclusion of Bidvest Wits net minder Ricardo Goss, who has replaced his club teammate Brandon Petersen owing to injury.
“If you look at Darren (Keet) and Ronwen (Williams), 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,” said Ntseki as quoted by Phakaaathi.
“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.
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“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.”
With the 1996 African champions set to face Mali on Sunday in the Nelson Mandela Challenge at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the new Bafana boss wants to give the young keepers an opportunity to learn.
“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,” he explained.
“We are actually looking forward to bringing younger goalkeepers so they can learn from the older guys.”
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Rustenburg-born is challenging George Chigova for the number one spot at Rise and Shine and has played in four matches in all competitions whilst conceding once so far.