Thursday, 23rd August 2007 at 11:28 am

AmaGlug-glug, Nigeria all square

With three years to go until the World Cup, Carlos Alberto Parreira will be weighing up his playing options, and while the bulk of his attention will be on the core of players who travelled to Scotland for Wednesday night’s friendly, he’ll be keeping an eye on the next generation of Bafana Bafana stars: the youthful talent that makes up the AmaGlug-glug, South Africa’s national under-23 side.

That side was in action on the same night as the seniors went down in Scotland, and while the junior stars couldn’t pull off a compensatory win, they did at least emerge with a draw in their 2008 Olympic qualifier against a Nigerian side boasting several players who almost looked as though they hadn’t turned 23 yet. (Included in the side: one Daddy Bazuaye. Feverpitcher’s not sure what to make of his team-mates calling him Daddy.)

But while the Olympics are an important target for South African football, there’s significant interest in the performance of players who might yet form part of the 2010 puzzle. Parreira will have had scouts at the Nigeria game; should said scouts share the opinion of Feverpitcher, then the names Lance Davids and Lerato Chabangu should be top of the list of awaiting talent. Watch this space…