Former Orlando Pirates striker Zakhele Lepasa is among the 14 free agents included in the Bafana Bafana squad for CHAN.
The 28-year-old did not play any competitive games last season owing to injuries, and despite recovering, he did not make the squad that camped in Spain for pre-season. Yanela Mbuthuma was added to the club to sharpen the striking department that already has Evidence Makgopa and Tshegofatso Mabasa.
It explains why the majority of football fans in the country were shocked when Lepasa was included in the South Africa squad that will be competing in CHAN to be jointly hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Why was Lepasa included in the Bafana Bafana team for CHAN?
Ahead of the biennial competition, coach Molefi Ntseki has explained why he trusted a player who has not played competitive football for long to do the job in Group C, which is also made up of Algeria, Guinea, Niger, and Uganda.
“What we did is that we got a physical profile and technical profile of the players we have here, and we were also given a go-ahead from physicians to say he is at a level where he can always build on him,” the former Kaizer Chiefs coach stated.
“Lepasa's strength is scoring goals, so if you go into a tournament and you have 70 percent of Zakhele Lepasa and you give him 45 or 60 minutes, you are likely to get a goal out of him. Going into this tournament, we are fully aware that we might be struggling to get a striker to help us. Zakhele was available, and we are happy with his medical report,” he concluded.
