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Final 28 for South African squad has few surprises
The 28 players named today will be trimmed to the 22-member squad that will represent South Africa at its first World Cup.
Seventeen of the 28 play in Europe, and most are considered part of the nucleus that new coach Philippe Troussier will rely on when South Africa meets host France, Denmark and Saudi Arabia in Pool C of the opening round.
"All of the players from overseas are ready, ready now," Troussier said. "They need maybe two weeks" to prepare for the World Cup.
Among those named to the team were veterans Lucas Radebe of Leeds United, Mark Fish of Bolton Wanderers, David Nyathi of St. Gallen, Benni McCarthy of Ajax Amsterdam, Phil Masinga of Bari, Helman Mkhalele of Kaiseryspor, John Moshoeu of Fenerbahce and Eric Tinkler of Barnsley F.C.
Also included was Doctor Khumalo, a veteran star for South Africa who played last year for the Columbus Crew in the U.S. Khumalo, a deft ball-handler, was dropped from the team for the African Nations Cup tournament earlier this year despite being one of the soccer-mad nation's most popular players.
South Africa will begin its final stage of training on May 15 and play Zambia in Johannesburg on May 20. The team then travels to Buenos Aires to take on Argentina on May 25, and proceeds to Stuttgart, Germany, for a training camp leading up to a June 6 match against Romania.
Troussier said he will use the three exhibition matches to evaluate his players to come up with the strongest possible side for France.
He rejected a suggestion that teams should hold back star players in the exhibition matches to prevent injuries before the World Cup, which will include both Argentina and Romania.
South Africa was banned from international soccer for 29 years because of apartheid. Since its return in 1992, South Africa won the African Nations Cup in 1996, qualified for the World Cup and finished second in this year's African Nations Cup tournament.
But it must do something it never has accomplished before in order to advance past the first round of the World Cup -- defeat a team from outside Africa.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan