The Western Cape XI squad for the Football 4 Humanity exhibition against the Palestine national football team has been released with the inclusion of no less than four former Premier League players in Clayton Daniels, Sameegh Doutie, Wade Crowie and Shafiek Serelina.
No Bones with Jones is in possession of the list and can confirm that some minor changes have been made to the initial squad with goalkeeper Lance Niewenhuis amongst the new additions.
This follows after ABC Motsepe League outfits, Royal Blues and Oriented Birds confirmed that their players will not be available due to logistical reasons while clubs like Cape Town Spurs and Maties FC has been put in a rather awkward position following Safa Western Cape’s refusal to postpone their fixture scheduled on the same day as the showpiece between Palestine and the WC XI.
It is expected that Safa’s president Danny Jordaan will in the coming days deal with the province’s chairperson, Tankiso Modipa, who for some apparent reason could not see the big picture with this historic occasion on South African soil.
“That is one of the main reasons why we had to exclude key players,” said Boeboe Solomons, coach of the WC side. “It is rather unfortunate as these players are robbed of being part of a great cause. Nevertheless, we managed to put together a competitive squad that should be able to hold their own against our brother from Palestine,” Solomoms added.
Meanwhile, Solomons will be assisted by another Cape soccer legend, Farouk Abrahams (goalkeeper coach) while Zane Ryklief (possession coach), Mangaliso Ntombana (offensive coach), Arreshaat Daniel (defensive coach) and Ebrahiem Layman (warm-up coach).
Sibongile Mgxekeni (manager), Dr. Nasief van der Schyff (team doctor) and Rayaan Domingo (physio) complete the technical team.
The Football for Humanity international showpiece, held under the theme “Peace, Hope, and Solidarity,” aims to provide Palestinian players with the opportunity to enjoy their favourite sport in conditions of peace and sound infrastructure.
This event, to be attended by the president Cyril Ramaphosa, symbolizes South Africa’s historic solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle against illegal occupation and violent excesses by the State of Israel.
