Joel Santana received the best possible news on Sunday concerning his injured stars Steven Pienaar, Teko Modise and Tsepo Masilela.

Both Orlando Pirates midfield star Modise and Israel-based left-back Masilela did not play in Bafana‘s 1 – 0 win over Poland in their final warm-up friendly at Orlando Stadium on Saturday ahead of the Confederations Cup which kicks off on Sunday. Bafana face Iraq in the opening Group A clash at Ellis Park on Sunday at 4pm.

Pienaar limped off midway through the second half of the victory over Poland with a swollen ankle.

But Bafana manager Sipho Nkumane revealed on Sunday that all three players would be reporting fit for training on Monday morning.

“I have just seen Steven (Pienaar) and there is no problem,” said Nkumane. “He twisted his ankle against Poland but fortunately it is not serious and that is tremendous news for the squad.”

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Mfundo Mkhize, a student in his final year at the AFDA film school in Johannesburg, has been given the opportunity of a lifetime by Coca-Cola when he was selected to direct the commercial  that will launch the new Open Happiness global platform in the context of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Coca-Cola has spent the past month scouting the film school in South Africa searching for the right person to direct the ad, and the final decision to offer the opportunity to Mkhize was made two weeks ago, based on his education, experience and above all his positive attitude and determination to succeed.

What Coca-Cola have bought into and fallen in love with is Mkhize’s youthful vision for football and the brand. He thinks outside the box and instead of asking the question “why” Mkhize asks “why not?”The unusual decision to allow a student to direct the Coca-Cola 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup ad shows the company’s trust in the South African youth who are the countries future leaders and role models, and what they lack in experience they make up for with passion, drive and enthusiasm. (more…)

Bafana Bafana have axed their leading point scorer Benni McCarthy from the provisional 30-man squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Record Bafana Bafana (The Boys) scorer McCarthy had been expected to get the nod from Brazil-born coach Joel Santana despite shunning recent friendlies against Norway and Portugal.

Blackburn Rovers striker McCarthy, scorer of 31 goals for South Africa, claimed he was injured despite being cleared to play by medical staff at the English Premiership strugglers.

Santana and various predecessors have treated McCarthy with kid gloves despite a controversial national team career since bursting into the limelight at the 1998 African Nations Cup.

McCarthy becomes available and unavailable for the national squad with alarmingly frequency, although the failure of South Africa to produce world-class strikers sometimes leaves coaches with no option but to pick him.

“I’m happy the coach has finally made this decision regarding McCarthy,” said Gordon Igesund, who has guided numerous big and small South African clubs to the Premiership title.

He told the Kickoff football magazine website: “This is a good lesson that there is no player bigger than the country and that everyone deserves the same treatment.

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