The slimming of the chances of joining the Bafana Bafana squad heading for the World Cup in June, is not on the mind of the Mamelodi Sundowns stopper, Grant Kekana, but we are suffering from the feeling of indebtedness to this team from Chloorkop for what happened in the final of the Caf Champions League last season.
Kekana is one of the players who are used to being left out of Bafana since he is among the top scorers in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast in 2023.
There are less than three months left before Bafana start the World Cup which will be hosted jointly by Mexico, Canada and the United States of America (USA) in June.
Although the Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, has always ignored Kekana who has suffered from injuries, he has nothing to do with the Belgian coach.
Kekana, who was part of Sundowns’ scheme that defeated Mali’s Stade Malien 3-0 last Friday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal, revealed that at the moment there is nothing on his mind like helping Sundowns win the Caf Cup.
It is expected that this stopper will play again on Sunday afternoon when Sundowns play the second leg in Mali.
“Not being called up to Bafana is something every player should expect because the coach has to choose from many players who give him different things,” said Kekana.
“It is a blessing for every player to represent his country, especially in the World Cup, but you will not be forced to be called up or left out.
“What’s on my mind is the debt owed to the fans who let us down at the end of last season. It still hurts me and my teammates how we failed to add a second star to our jersey.
“This season we don’t have a sign of modesty because the proof of that was in the finals last season,” said Kekana as we recounted.
Sundowns, who were carried by the team last season to add a second star, fell short in the final to Pyramids FC of Egypt who did not have much history in the Champions League.