Komphela: SA coach Baxter has special duty for Tshabalala

by Austin Ditlhobolo

Tuesday Oct 31, 2017. 11:00

Kaizer Chiefs mentor Steve Komphela says South Africa coach Stuart Baxter has a special duty lined up for Siphiwe 'Shabba' Tshabalala.

Tshabalala, 33, received a surprise call-up when the Bafana Bafana squad to face Senegal in the Fifa 2018 World Cup qualifiers next week was announced.

Bafana will qualify for the World Cup finals if they beat the Lions of Teranga both home and away.

On Saturday, Tshabalala inspired Chiefs to a 3-0 win over AmaZulu FC in a Telkom Knockout Cup Last 16 match in Durban.

“Maybe I’m not qualified to make a comment about Shabba,” said Komphela on The Citizen.

“But one thing is that he has worked with Stuart. Stuart is very smart coach and knows what he wants from Shabba otherwise he would not have picked him.

“Stuart said it some time ago that Shabba is a very influential player in the PSL and if Stuart says that today (Saturday) (AmaZulu head coach) Cavin Johnson says Shabba was the main threat. That tells you about the player he is," the Chiefs coach added.

“His personality and character make him a big player."

The veteran midfielder has 88 South Africa caps and scored 12 goals between 2006, and 2015.