Farina Forced To Make Changes To Squad

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Qantas Socceroo coach Frank Farina has been forced to make three changes and possibly a fourth, to his squad for next Wednesday’s (Thursday AEST) match against South Africa in Durban.

Qantas Socceroo coach Frank Farina has been forced to make three changes and possibly a fourth, to his squad for next Wednesday-s (Thursday AEST) match against South Africa in Durban.

Into the squad comes Clint Bolton, Luke Wilkshire and Archie Thompson, with Zeljko Kalac, Josip Skoko and Kevin Muscat ruled out. Tim Cahill is also in doubt and was having an MRI scan to determine the extent of an injury picked up in the match against Southampton yesterday. If Cahill isn-t able to travel, Farina is likely to stick to 19 players for the match.

Bolton becomes the first player signed to play in the inaugural Hyundai A-League season, to be picked for the national team. Bolton will play for Sydney FC, which starts next August, and is currently playing in the NSW Premier League with APIA Leichhardt Tigers. He comes in for Kalac who injured his thumb in Perugia-s weekend match against Catania.

Meanwhile South Africa is almost at full strength for the clash and are treating the game as a serious warm up, before they get back into World Cup qualifying action next month.

South Africa squad is:

Goalkeepers: Moeneeb Josephs (Ajax Cape Town), Calvin Marlin (SuperSport United)

Defenders: Bradley Carnell (Karlsruhe, Germany), Siphiwe Mkhonza (Kaizer Chiefs), Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn Rovers, England), Nasief Morris (Panathinaikos, Greece), Cyril Nzama (Kaizer Chiefs), Thabiso Rammile (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Midfielders: Delron Buckley (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Quinton Fortune (Manchester United, England), Gift Leremi (Orlando Pirates), Steven Pienaar (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Jabu Pule (SV Mattersburg, Austria), Benedict Vilakazi (Orlando Pirates)

Strikers: Tyren Arendse (Orlando Pirates), Shaun Bartlett (Charlton Athletic, England), Benni McCarthy (FC Porto, Portugal), Sandile Ndlovu (Dynamos), Siyabonga Nomvete (Empoli, Italy), Sibusiso Zuma (FC Copenhagen, Denmark)