Joel Santana received the best possible news on Sunday concerning his injured stars Steven Pienaar, Teko Modise and Tsepo Masilela.

Both Orlando Pirates midfield star Modise and Israel-based left-back Masilela did not play in Bafana‘s 1 – 0 win over Poland in their final warm-up friendly at Orlando Stadium on Saturday ahead of the Confederations Cup which kicks off on Sunday. Bafana face Iraq in the opening Group A clash at Ellis Park on Sunday at 4pm.

Pienaar limped off midway through the second half of the victory over Poland with a swollen ankle.

But Bafana manager Sipho Nkumane revealed on Sunday that all three players would be reporting fit for training on Monday morning.

“I have just seen Steven (Pienaar) and there is no problem,” said Nkumane. “He twisted his ankle against Poland but fortunately it is not serious and that is tremendous news for the squad.”

Nkumane confirmed that Santana had left both Modise and Masilela out of the line-up against Poland as a precaution.

“Both suffered niggling injuries last week. It was decided with our opening match in the Confederations Cup against Iraq on Sunday there was no point in taking risks. Both Masilela and Modise will be back in full training on Monday. So it is all good news from the camp.”

Nkumane also heaped praise on sports psychologist Henning Gericke who worked with the players before the match against Poland.

“Gericke is amazing,” he said. “After he spoke with the players on Friday night, there was a new self belief in them and it showed in the way we played and beat a top ranked side like Poland. The win over Poland (ranked 39th in the world) has really put the cherry on top and confidence is soaring. Now we are ready to go out and beat Iraq and set up a winning platform for our Confederations Cup campaign.”

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

Tags: bafana, joel santana, poland