Legendary Bafana Bafana defender Aaron Mokoena believes the squad picked up by Stuart Baxter for the Cosafa Cup is not by any means young.
The avarage age of the current Bafana squad is 22.5, but Mokoena feels Baxter should have instead taken the national under-17 team to the tournament.
“The mistake we make in this country is that we do not know what we mean when we say ‘youngster’,” Mokoena told The Sowetan .
“There are no youngsters in that Cosafa squad. For me, only a 17-year-old or younger player can be called a youngster. Baxter should have used the u-17s for this tournament,” Mokoena said.
“(Nevertheless), these boys will gain a valuable experience. The tournament will give Baxter a chance to identify players who will help the (senior) national team in the future,” Mokoena added.
There are six players from the under-20 national team that played in the Fifa under-20 World Cup in Korea this year.
They are Thendo Mukumela, Sandine Mthethwa, Tercious Malepe, Thabo Cele, Sibongakonke Mbatha and Liam Jordan.
Bafana will enter the tournament at the quarterfinal stages on Sunday with their opponents from Group A yet to be determined.
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